FULL TRANSCRIPT
Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) cash reserves are precariously low, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the situation has been aggravated by the Government’s policy of pushing State-run firms to pay out more dividends, go in for buybacks and acquire stakes in other State-owned firms to meet its fiscal deficit targets, if so, the details thereof; and
(c) whether the dwindling of ONGC’s cash reserve had adversely affected its working capital requirements, if so, at what level should such reserves be ideally kept, the details thereof?
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION 1:
ONGC has in the last few years undergone a metamorphosis. It has diversified widely into such things as SEZ infrastructure, in retail etc. The question is, is the ONGC shifting away from its core competence in oil exploration and production? Is it because of the continuous movement of the NELP, NELP 2, NELP 3 where privatisation is taking place?
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION 2:
The limited that ONGC Videsh Ltd. has acquired a lot of oil fields across 20/30 countries, what the future of OVL?