FreePress India

Government owned-gas transmission and marketing major GAIL India, on Friday, signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries to source gas from the latter’s oil fields in the Krishna Godavari basin in the eastern offshore.

The agreement envisages purchase of 2.6 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas from RIL’s KG-D6 fields at government approved price of $4.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu). Gas supplies are expected to begin from September 3, according to GAIL sources. However, in our opinion, the Government / GAIL should be entitles to the GAS at a much lower price of $2.4 per mBtu.

Read moreGAIL signs GSPA with Reliance Industries for KG Basin Gas – GAIL Under Loss

Poor rains are set to hit India’s farm output even as the government reiterates it had enough reserves to ensure food security. India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Thursday that the country was likely to see 15-20% decline in summer (kharif) crop harvest due to the poor rains.

The minister said that about 252 out of India’s 626 districts had been declared drought impacted as a result of the weak southwest monsoon. Cumulative rainfall in the June-September monsoon season so far was about 26% below the long period average (LPA).

Read moreIndian Monsoon Failure – Kharif harvest set to decline 20%

India’s food prices continue their run unrestricted even as the wholesale price inflation remains in the negative zone. Headline inflation, as indicated by the wholesale price index (WPI), stood at -0.95% during the week ended August 15 compared with -1.53% in the previous week. The rate had turned negative for the week ended June 6 for the first time since the new WPI series started in 1995.

Despite the negative number, there is no respite from the surge in food prices as the food index surged 13.3% from a year ago level. Poor monsoon has pushed up the supply-demand issues in the food sector resulting in rising prices of many commodities including sugar and pulses.

Read moreIndia Food Price Index Surges to 13.3% – What is th Government Doing ?

India’s core sector growth has slowed down again in July after improving consistently through the first quarter of the current fiscal. The group of six infrastructure industries posted a poor growth of 1.8% in the month of July compared with 2.8% in May and 6.5% in June. Growth in the corresponding month last year was 5.1%.

Main culprits for pulling the growth down were crude and steel. Crude oil production dipped by 0.4% in July while steel output expanded by only 1.2% against 6% a year ago. On the other hand, coal output expanded by 9.7% against 5.5% last year, electricity by 3.3% compared with 4.5% and cement by 10.6% against 5.5% the year ago period.

Read moreInfrastructure growth slows to 1.8% in July

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s leading passenger car maker, on Tuesday launched the Estilo with all-new looks and advanced technological features.

The Estilo represents Maruti Suzuki matching pace with the changing taste and lifestyle of vibrant India. The bolder new Estilo, designed to meet the aspirations of the Indian customer, is a heady mix of sculpted features, bold designs, new exciting colours.

Read moreMaruti Suzuki launches Estilo with K-series engine and bold new design