Petroleum Minister welcomes the Budget 2017 -18 proposals to boost Oil and Gas Sector
Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra
Pradhan welcomed the Budget 2017-18 proposals announced by Union
Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri ArunJaitley in the
Parliament today. Budget 2017-18 aims to Transform the quality of
governance and quality of life, Energise various sections of society and
Clean the country from the evils of corruption and black money.
With an aim to give a fillip to Oil and Gas Industry, the Finance
Minister announced several measures in Budget 2017 -18. The key
initiatives include:
1. Reduction in the basic customs duty on LNG from 5% to 2.5%.
2. Setting up of two more strategic oil reserves at Chandikhole in
Odisha and Bikaner in Rajasthan to enhance country’s energy security
taking our strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 MMT. This will increase
our storage capacity to meet the consumption requirement of about 90
days which is at par with the international benchmarks.
3. Foreign companies shall not be liable to tax in India in case of
sale of leftover stock of crude oil in case of strategic petroleum
reserve after the expiry of agreement or the arrangement, subject to
fulfilment of certain conditions.
4. Creation of an integrated public sector ‘oil major’ to integrate
the oil sector PSUs across the value chain and to enhance capacity of
Oil PSUs to bear higher risks, avail economies of scale, take higher
investment decisions and create more value for the stakeholders.
5. Encouraging digital payments through creation of digital payment
infrastructure across all fuel stations by setting up facilities for
digital payments including BHIM app.
The Finance Minister has also praised the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme
for LPG and kerosene of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which
is underway across states in his Budget speech.
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RG/RK
(Release ID :157876)
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