Ioc Net Rises 7 Per Cent To Rs 904 Crore

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has recorded an unaudited net profit of Rs 904 crore in the first half of the current fiscal, up seven per cent from the Rs 844 crore posted in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Profitability imp-roved despite non-receipt of any arrear margins from the Oil Coordi-nation Committee (OCC) during the current year.

According to chairman M A Pathan, IOCs profitability improved mainly due to higher throughput by refineries and pipelines, increased sales, better returns during operations of the Kandla-Bhatinda pipeline and lower incidence of income-tax.

IOCs income from sales and operations stood at Rs 29,592 crore in the first half, an increase of 5.8 per cent over Rs 27,967 crore during the first half of the previous year. The provision for taxation has come down to Rs 160 crore from Rs 252 crore in the first half of 1996-97. The interest burden has also dropped from Rs 126 crore to Rs 92 crore.

IOCs refineries registered a crude oil throughput of 13.1 million tonnes during the first half of 1997-98, compared with 11.7 million tonnes during the same period last year. The 5,303 km pipeline network transported 15.1 million tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products during the current half year, compared with 13.2 million tonnes during the same period last year.