March 4, 1995

Reliance pushes for 20 m.t. refinery

Reliance Petroleum proposes to increase1 the capacity of its Jamnagar refinery project to 20 million tonnes, according to sources. The initial capacity planned was nine million tonnes and was revised recently to 15 million tonnes. The project, scheduled to go on stream by end-1997, will be the largest refinery in India, more than the combined capacities of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The six refineries of Indian Oil Corporation have a total capacity of nearly 25 million tonnes.

Rupee crashes against dollar

The rupee crashed against the dollar today touching a low of Rs.32.1 5. In a thin market, the rupee opened in the region of 'Rs.31.51, and tumbled further against the dollar during the day due to a demand-supply mismatch. With major Indian centres other than Bombay closed on account of Ramzan, there was a shortfall in the supply of dollars. With West Asian markets also closed for the festival, there has been a drop in inward remittances of dollars during the week.

15% levy on LPG may go

The 15 per cent levy on import of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) may be abolished soon with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas proposing this to the Finance Ministry. This levy is considered high in view of the shortage of import facilities and bottling plants, especially in the private sector. The Petroleum Ministry has also asked the Revenue Department to rationalise the duty structure for the equipment for setting LPG import facilities and bottling plants. Now a 25 per cent duty is levied on the equipment.

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