PRIME MINISTER PRESENTED RS.1,679
CRORE DIVIDEND CHEQUE BY CMD ONGC
Prime Minister was
presented a cheque of Rs. 1,679 crore towards dividend at 140%
for the year 2001-02 by Sh. Subir Raha, C&MD, ONGC today,
26.09.2002, in presence of Shri Ram Naik, Minister Petroleum &
Natural Gas and Sh. Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State, Petroleum
& Natural Gas and Parliamentary Affairs. Sh. B.K. Chaturvedi,
Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas, senior officials from
the Ministry and functional Directors of ONGC were also present.
Sh. Naik briefed
Prime Minister about the overall recent developments in Petroleum
Sector, particularly in the context of volatility of crude oil
prices in the International Markets. Sh. Naik also briefed Prime
Minister regarding his fruitful discussions with Ministers of
various oil producing countries during his visit to Osaka, Japan
last week in connection with the International Energy Forum. Shri
Naik also apprised Prime Minister regarding various measures by
ONGC to augment production of crude oil.
Shri Naik stressed
that due to the forward looking policies in the hydrocarbon sector
being implemented since 1998-99 by the Government, ONGC is taking
rapid strides towards becoming a global player in the petroleum
sector and that today, ONGC stands first amongst both private
and public sector undertakings in India with the highest market
capitalisation of over Rs. 45,000 crore and is also the highest
profit earning company with a profit of about Rs. 6200 crore for
2001-02.
Shri Naik brought
out that ONGC during the period April-September 2002 has achieved
an increase in oil production by over 9% mainly on account of
Mumbai High Development Projects and on an annualized basis the
crude production has increased by 1 MMT compared to 2001-02. Similarly,
the production of gas has also increased by 4%. The resultant
increase in earning of ONGC would be to the tune of Rs.1,000 crore
on crude oil production and Rs.400 crore on gas production.
Sh. Naik apprised
Prime Minister regarding various steps taken by ONGC and the Ministry
for the safety & security of Oil Installations and efforts
made in this direction particularly for the North East Region.
He also mentioned that ONGC, in its quest to become a world class
Exploration & Production Company with right size, will introduce
a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) in the organisation. This
proposal is being re-worked out and a view on this will be taken
shortly.
Lastly, Shri Naik
pointed out that three significant and indeed crucial achievement
of ONGC for fructification of India Hydrocarbon Vision 2025 are
the launch of the redevelopment of Mumbai High Fields at a cost
of about Rs. 8500 crore, the acquisition of 20% stake in Sakhalin
Offshore Project in Russia at an investment of about Rs. 8100
crore and the initiation of Corporate Rejuvenation Campaign. ONGC
has many more such ambitious plans for the future.
Prime Minister while
appreciating the efforts made by ONGC and the Ministry of Petroleum
& Natural Gas for boosting oil and gas production in India
and abroad observed that the interests of the common-man and relief
to consumer be kept in mind particularly at the time when the
crude prices are volatile in the International Markets. Prime
Minister also expressed the hope that efforts to augment oil security
of the country would be further accelerated.
