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In the three days since the Union Budget, at least 70 companies have called board meetings to declare interim dividends — in a bid to get the money to the shareholders before the tax on promoters’ dividends kicks in on April 1. The Budget, presented on Monday, had proposed a 10 per cent tax on the dividends for those promoters with annual dividend income of Rs 10 lakh or more. Show full article

In a boost to firms like  ONGC   and Reliance Industries, the government plans to raise natural  gas price   by about 60% for their undeveloped gas discoveries in difficult areas. While domestically-produced gas is currently priced at an average of rates in gas-surplus countries like the US, Canada and Russia, for deep-sea discoveries yet to be developed, the government plans to price them at an average cost of alternative fuels -- naphtha and fuel oil as well as imported LNG. Show full article

The slide in crude oil prices might push back development of the 98/2 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin, the most ambitious programme of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), by at least two quarters. ONGC was planning to start gas production here from April 2018. Oil production is slated to begin after that. “Our programme might be delayed… at the current oil prices, it looks difficult. Our teams are revising the cost and we would have a report by the end of this financial year,” said an official.  Read More