This is a huge development. India is the only large country which will be increasing its use of hydrocarbons this year, and with the government restrictions on its energy industries finally lifting, exploration and exploitation of its own energy resources, which are substantial but have not been subjected to modern technologies and processes.
UPDATE 2-India to mull ending fuel subsidies, approval likely
Fri May 29, 2009 4:34pm IST
in.reuters.com
* Cabinet may free fuel price to ease subsidy burden in July
* Analysts expect approval, kerosene prices still kept cheap
* Petrol prices would rise by 5 pct if controls removed today
* Refiner IOC (IOC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) +7 pct, upstream ONGC (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) +4 pct (Adds price, quotes and details)
By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI, May 29 (Reuters) - India's government said it may eliminate diesel and gasoline subsidies as soon as July, quicker than expected, ending a policy that had crushed state refiners' profits, strained government finances and inflated oil demand.
Emboldened by an unexpectedly strong election victory this month, the Congress-led cabinet will consider a proposal to free state controls on transport fuel prices in July, Oil Minister Murli Deora told reporters, news that sent shares of oil companies surging as investors bet on more stable earnings.
"It will go to the cabinet. It will be discussed soon, within six weeks," said Deora, who on Thursday was reconfirmed in the role he has held since early 2006, when world crude oil prices CLc1 were first pushing beyond $70 a barrel.
India's move, which one state oil executive said would trigger a 5 percent rise in prices if made today to match $65 crude oil, is one of many important reforms expected from the government, and suggests it is ready to take difficult but important steps in order to balance growth with fiscal prudence.
Pricing freedom would increase tax revenue and remove massive subsidies bills, helping offset the cost of economic stimulus measures that have stretched public finances and widened the fiscal deficit to 6 percent of GDP.
Wihle few had expected it to move so quickly on such a sensitive issue, analysts said it was likely to win government approval since the Congress party no longer relies on its former communist allies for support, and noted that the proposal would not affect subsidies on kerosene, used for home cooking.
"They will be able to pass it in the cabinet," said D.H. Pai Panandikar, President RPG Foundation, a private economic think tank. "It's not necessarily going to hit the people now because oil prices are low at the moment."
UNWINDING SUBSIDIES
Like many developing countries including China, India sought to protect its poor against rallying world prices -- and to curb broader inflation pressures -- by controlling domestic prices centrally, partly subsidising state oil firms for their losses.
For a graphic comparing domestic rates with global crude: here
Some are working now to take advantage of the fall in crude oil prices from their $147 a barrel peak to dismantle those controls, although China's partial liberalisation at the start of this year is alread under strain as Beijing resists another rise.
Oil prices rose above $65 a barrel on Friday, taking gains to 27 percent in May, the biggest one-month gain in a decade, and analysts say the market seemed focused on the bullish sentiment and brighter macroeconomic outlook.
But because India barely cut prices during crude's long decline, current petrol prices would only rise by about 5 percent if the federal government ended controls on pricing, a senior Indian Oil Corp (IOC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) official told Reuters. [ID:nDEL000075].
India imports about 70 percent of the oil it consumes and accumulated a huge burden of subsidies as it kept prices artificially low when crude soared to its peak last year.
"You have to bite the bullet. The subsidies seem to be so out of control .. How can you run the government on a wide fiscal deficit?" asked Mridul Saggar, chief economist at Kotak Securities. "You run the risk of faster price adjustment, larger price adjustment, but then if you don't do that, the cost is in terms of growth as well as interest rates."
PRICES MAY RISE
Eliminating subsidies would also open a domestic opportunity for private sector firms Reliance Industries (RELI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Essar Oil (ESRO.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) to shut down their petrol stations as customers bought cheaper fuel from subsidised state rivals.
The news helped drive up the oil and gas sector index , which includes Reliance and state-run explorer ONGC (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), was 4.2 percent by 0930 GMT, outperforming a rise of 2.9 percent in the benchmark index .BSESN.
Market-driven prices would help curb fuel use in India, one of the only major consumers expected to see positive demand growth this year.
Demand is even expected to shrink in China, which last December switched to a market-based pricing system, although Beijing still retains significant control over rates. (Additional reporting by C.J. Kuncheria) (Writing by Surojit Gupta; Editing by John Mair and Clarence Fernandez) |
