Pm Vows Steps To Spur Pvt Funding In Oil Exploration
Prime minister H D Deve Gowda said new initiatives to spur private investment in oil exploration will be announced soon.
He made this announcement after opening the `Advantage Maharashtra convention in Mumbai yesterday.
In a 25-minute long speech, the Prime Minister defended his governments track record. He said despite being in minority, the government has taken a number of bold measures and freed restrictions in telecom, power, ports, roads and highways.
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Some new decisions will be taken soon in oil exploration, which will go a big way in attracting private investment.
The reference to incentives in oil exploration comes in the backdrop of a note send by the petroleum ministry to the Union cabinet, proposing far-reaching changes in current regulations.
The note said national oil companies Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd should be treated on a par with foreign oil companies. At present, they get preferential treatment in allotment of blocks for exploration.
The note recommends payment of international rates to the national oil companies against the current low rates of between $8 and $10 a barrel.
The Prime Minister praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi for organising the convention, which was attended by over 1,000 delegates.
I must appreciate the foresightedness and commitment of Joshi to arrange a function of this nature and size. This removes suspicion in the minds of investors that India is full of red-tapism. That was one major concern I noticed among investors in Davos. By shifting his office to the convention centre and by creating a single-window clearance facility, the convention has sent a strong signal to investors.
He took exceptions to some businessmen criticising the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and said the capital market fluctuates wildly everyday. If it is affected by MAT, how can it behave like this? he asked.
The Prime Minister said many hurdles in infrastructure development and investment have been cleared. We have tried to simplify the government and decentralise decision-making. Which is why we have given more powers to states to decide on power projects. Despite talks about being a minority government with a 13-party coalition and 20-party coalition, we have done good work.
He assured industrialists of speedy clearance of projects. Decision-making is my hobby. I would like to assure Chief Minister Joshi that whatever pending clearances there are, will be cleared soon.