588 defunct excise licences to be auctioned
'These licences have not been renewed for whatever reason, and have been lying defunct. The reason behind the auction is to bring them back into the market and generate revenue for the government. The auction is likely to fetch between Rs 500 crore and Rs 600 crore,' said sources.
The Excise department is presently working out the modalities; from prospective allocation of these licences to the 40 excise districts in Karnataka to suggesting reserve or base price (minimum price of the bids) etc. The draft will soon be shared with the government to finetune it; address legal hurdles and set the base price of the bids.
'The base price may be pegged at 10 to 15 times higher than the Excise licence fee. No decision has been taken so far on this. The government will take the final decision. Majority of licences, especially CL-9, are likely to be allocated to Bengaluru,' added the sources. 'Out of the 288 MSIL licences under consideration for auction, 64 have not been renewed, rest were not utilised and are being considered to be brought back to the main pool,' said sources.
Meanwhile, the liquor industry has responded to the proposed auction with caution. 'Our concern is that multinational companies may end up having an upper hand in these auctions with higher bids. They have the money power to incentivise sales of their brands, which no Indian company or brand will be able to match.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
16 minutes ago
- Hans India
PM Modi launches Rs 1 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, to create 3.5 crore jobs
New Delhi: In a significant Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Rs one lakh crore Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, a nationwide employment initiative aimed at transforming job opportunities for India's youth. 'There is big news for the youth of the country,' PM Modi declared from the Red Fort. 'On this day, we are starting and implementing a scheme of Rs 1 lakh crore for the youth of my country,' he said. The scheme, effective from August 15, is designed to incentivise both first-time employees and private sector employers. Under the initiative, any young person securing their first job in the private sector will receive Rs 15,000 directly from the government. 'The son or daughter who gets their first job will be given Rs 15,000 by the government,' PM Modi announced, emphasising the scheme's role in easing the transition into formal employment. To further stimulate job creation, companies that generate sustained employment will be rewarded with financial incentives. Employers hiring additional staff will be eligible for up to Rs 3,000 per month per new employee, with extended benefits for the manufacturing sector. The scheme is expected to create approximately 3.5 crore new jobs over the next two years, with 1.92 crore beneficiaries entering the workforce for the first time. The Ministry of Labour & Employment, in collaboration with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), will oversee implementation. PM Modi framed the initiative as a cornerstone of the Viksit Bharat mission, aimed at building a developed and inclusive India by 2047. 'This is my gift to the youth -- a double Diwali celebration,' he said, promising economic empowerment and national progress. With its dual focus on youth and enterprise, the Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana marks one of the most ambitious employment-linked reforms in recent years. As registration opens, millions of young Indians and businesses are expected to benefit from this transformative push toward job-led development.
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
No pause on Russian oil imports, India continues imports based on economic rationale
India has not halted oil purchases from Russia in response to the US President's tariff threat and continues to buy based solely on economic considerations, said AS Sahney, Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest oil firm. Purchase volumes may fluctuate monthly based on the discounts offered on Russian crude grades like Urals. While discounts had previously reached as high as $ 40 per barrel, they have narrowed to just $ 1.5 late last month, resulting in reduced offtake. Discounts have since widened to about $ 2.70. However, India's intent to continue buying Russian oil remains unchanged. India became the largest customer of Russian oil from 2022, after western countries shunned Russian oil and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. Sahney said refiners like IOC buy crude oil from Russia purely on economic consideration and have not been asked to cut or boost purchase in response to US tariffs, he said. "There is no pause," he said. Russian oil has continued to flow to Indian refiners in July as well as this month. "We continue to buy, purely based on economic considerations, that is to say if the pricing and characteristics of the crude make sense in our scheme of processing, we buy," he told reporters here. "No special effort is being made to either increase or decrease (the import volumes). We are buying crude as per economic considerations," he said. Imports from Russia made up for 22-23 per cent of all the crude oil that IOC refineries processed in the April-June period. US President Donald Trump last week announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India -- raising the overall duty to 50 per cent -- as a penalty for the country's continued imports of Russian oil. Since the steep tariffs are likely to hit the $ 40 billion of non-exempt exports that India does to the US, there has been chatter around stopping or curtailing oil imports from Russia. "There are no sanctions on Russian crude," he said. "India has not done anything that violates any sanctions". Separately, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) Director (Finance) Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta on an investor call said the discounts have narrowed to $ 1.5 per barrel, and led to lower imports last month. In the first quarter, Russian oil made up 34 per cent of BPCL's crude intake and the company hopes to return to a 30-35 per cent ratio as long as there are no sanctions, he said. Before February 2022, Russian crude oil accounted for less than 1 per cent of India's total oil imports. However, after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, western nations shunned Russian energy, leading to Russian crude being available at discounted rates compared to global benchmarks. Seizing the economic opportunity, India ramped up its purchases, significantly increasing its reliance on Russian oil to meet domestic energy needs. Russian crude oil now meets 30 per cent of the requirement. Sahney said at no time was import of crude oil from Russia sanctioned and so India continued to purchase keeping in mind economic considerations. "Such purchases will continue unless sanctions are imposed," he said. "We have not got any instruction (from the government) to either increase or decrease purchase. We are doing business as usual." About talk of refiners being asked to increase purchases from the US in a bid to placate Trump, IOC Chairman said, "Neither are we being told to buy more nor are we told to buy less from US or any other destination. Economic considerations dictate our actions."
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Discounts dip but Economics keep Russian oil flowing to India
NEW DELHI: The flow of Russian crude to India remains unabated in spite of discounts shrinking to $1.5-2 per barrel as market factors and input requirement continue to drive refiners' choice in the absence of any govt directive for or against those imports amid US and European Union (EU) pressure. 'We are buying crude as per the economics. We are not making any extra effort for either increasing or decreasing Russian crude (purchase)," IndianOil chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said on Thursday. Coming from the head of India's largest state-run refiner and a major buyer of Russian crude, the statement can be construed as an indication the govt remains undaunted by western pressure against purchase of those barrels. Govt sources said a team of officials from the external and commerce ministries is set to visit Russia for further discussion on a Rupee-Rouble trade, something both countries have been pursuing for years. Several cargoes of Russian crude was delivered to western ports last week, contrary to foreign media reports of India pausing purchase of Russian oil. Describing those reports as 'wrong', Sahney pointed out that Russian oil was not sanctioned like Iranian or Venezuelan crude but is only subject to a price cap. He said the US had set the price cap at $60/barrel, among other curbs, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The EU's latest curbs has lowered the cap to $47 (at current oil prices). There is no curb on buying Russian oil within these conditions. Sahney said buying (clean) Russian oil even at small discounts could make sense for refiners if the yield patten of that particular grade suits the production plan at a given point. 'If the pricing and characteristics of the crude suits our scheme of processing, we buy,' he said explaining the monthly variations in the quantity of imports from Russia or the US. Separately, executives of other refining companies said the wind-down provisions in the US penalty on New Delhi allow import of Russian crude loaded upto seven days from the order, after which the 25% additional tariff will be imposed on Indian goods exports. 'We will continue to import Russian oil but will not violate the sanctions,' an executive of major refining company said requesting that neither he nor his company be identified.
