How do you see the freeing of petrol price and hike in prices of

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diesel, kerosene and cooking gas?

This is welcome news. This brings stability to the sector. Not only upstream companies like ONGC, but it is good also for midstream and downstream companies. Uncertainty in the sector has been eliminated.

Will it bring some relief to ONGC financially since you won’t need to share petrol subsidies now?

Yes, financially it will give some relief to ONGC. But it cannot be calculated now.

Has the government informed ONGC about sharing subsidy in the first quarter of this year? What was ONGC’s subsidy bill last year?

No, so far government has not informed anything. In FY10, our subsidy bill was Rs 11,500 crore and Rs 28,200 crore in FY09.

How do you see things now?

The subsidy sharing mechanism has to be settled. I am sure government has discussed scenarios. At this moment, nobody knows what will happen. The petroleum and the finance ministries will decide on this.

What do you feel as a consumer?

Yes, it will have a little impact. But, there is no logic of subsidising petrol prices. Why should oil PSUs suffer? For diesel and cooking gas price hike, the consumer will be hit marginally.

Do you see more investors turning towards oil PSUs now?

Absolutely. After these decisions, uncertainty has been eliminated. Everyone looks for stability and these steps will bring stability. Continuous losses by OMCs will get reduced. Now, oil PSUs will attract more investors