Fuel price hike on hold till Holi

The oil marketing companies will not be increasing petrol prices , and perhaps will refrain from doing so till after Holi.

Sources say this was decided after a meeting the oil marketing companies had with the oil secretary earlier today.

The OMCs want to hike prices by Rs 5 per litre, but have decided, this time round, to seek the government's advice on just when to do so.

OMCs are also pushing for a diesel price hike to help bridge the current under recover of over Rs 12 per litre. They believe this is the only option right now.

However, will the UPA-2 bite the bullet and hike fuel prices right now? Do remember Parliament will convene next week for the Budget session.

Oil companies likely to hike fuel prices after state polls

Petrol and possibly diesel prices are likely to be hiked by Rs 2-4 per litre once Assembly Elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, are completed this week. State-owned oil companies are losing about Rs 4 per litre on petrol, industry officials said.

Oil firms had last revised petrol prices on December 1 after which rates have not been changed because of Assembly Elections.

The industry, they said, has lost about Rs 900 crore since the last revision which was done at international gasoline price (the benchmark for deciding domestic retail rates) was USD 109 per barrel. Gasoline rates have since risen to over USD 125 a barrel.

"In all probability, petrol price will be increased after assembly polls," an official said.

Another official said diesel rates too may be hiked before the Budget session of Parliament that begins on March 12.

State-owned oil firms lose Rs 12.77 per litre on diesel. They also lose Rs 30.21 a litre on kerosene and Rs 378 per 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder.

Indian Oil Corp , Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are losing over Rs 410 crore per day on sale of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.

Officials said the call on raising diesel prices would be taken by an Empowered Group of Minister (EGoM) as and when it meets while petrol rates would be revised by oil firms themselves.

Petrol price were freed from government control in June 2010 but rates have not moved in tandem with imported cost.

While petrol price were last revised on December 1 when they were cut by Rs 0.78 per litre to Rs 65.64 per litre in Delhi, diesel currently costs Rs 40.91 a litre.

Rail Budget: Govt to reduce railway freight on iron ore

The governement has reduced the railway freight on iron ore meant for exports by 16% effective Tuesday, an industry body official said, a move expected to help exporters who have come under pressure after an increase in export duty in January.

The new freight has been set at Rs 2,425 (USD 48.48) per tonne of iron ore, down Rs 475 from the previous freight cost, said H.C. Daga, vice president with the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

"Exports (of iron ore) had already become unviable and this is a beginning in right direction, but it needs to be reduced much more," Daga said.

India hiked iron ore export duties to 30% in January to conserve supplies for its own steel industry, making shipments unviable and prompting traders to slash their export forecast for the year to March 2012.

"This will help exporters reduce losses and if they reduce export duty on lower grades, it would be even better," said Dhruv Goel, managing director with SteelMint, an iron ore trading firm.

India is one of the world's biggest exporters of iron ore and ships much of its product to China, which has the world's largest steel industry.

Iron ore exports are yet to resume from the southern state of Karnataka, which accounted for a quarter of shipments before the state government imposed a ban, even after the Supreme Court ordered the ban lifted in April last year.

Essar in talks to raise up to USD 600 million for BPO arm

The IT services arm of Indian steel-to-oil conglomerate Essar Group is in talks to raise USD 500 million to USD 600 million through a US initial public offering and the sale of a stake to private equity firms, sources familiar with the matter said.

Essar's Aegis Ltd is in talks with private equity investors including US-based Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic to raise as much as USD 200 million in an equity placement prior to an IPO, sources said, declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media before public announcement.

Aegis aims to raise as much as USD 300 million to USD 400 million in a US listing, the sources said.

The parent of Aegis, Essar Group, is controlled by Indian billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, and also controls London-listed Essar Energy and has interests in steel, ports and logistics.

An Essar spokesman said: "As a policy, Essar Group would not like to comment on speculations."

Warburg Pincus declined to comment, while General Atlantic did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Last month, Aegis's CEO said the company was planning to raise between USD 300 million and USD 400 million through an IPO in the United States, United Kingdom or India to expand its business and research and development.

SP ahead, but BJP threatens majority

The early trends from the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, brought in a big surprise in the form of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which poses a tough challenge for the Samajwadi Party (SP).

According to the trends, the SP appears unlikely to get a majority to form the government on its own. At around 9.15 am, trends for 168 seats were available with the SP leading in 75, followed by the BJP on 42 seats.

While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was leading on 26 seats, the Congress stood fourth with lead in 20 seats.

The polling in the state was held in seven phases from February 8 to March 3.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which had managed to get 206 seats in the previous assembly polls, is unlikely to repeat the good performance this year, thanks to the anti-incumbency factor in the state.

The Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, seen as the semi-final of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, witnessed a rigorous campaign in all the phases with top leaders from all the parties addressing rallies and gatherings across the state.

While Rahul Gandhi led the campaign for the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav made it sure that the Samajwadi Party left no stone unturned in ensuring a win. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other hand roped in former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti to not just campaign, but even contest the elections.

However, Mayawati preferred to take on the parties single handedly as she addressed huge rallies at several places across Uttar Pradesh.

In the four-cornered battle for UP, trends suggest a clear majority for the Samajwadi Party, and a sharp decline in the vote share of the BSP. The rigorous campaign by Rahul Gandhi is likely to yield any benefit for the Congress, which is likely to stand fourth.