कारपोरेट राज के भंडाफोड़ से कांग्रेस और भाजपा दोनों को गुस्सा आया। क्यों?
दूसरी ओर, जो आरोप केजरीवाल ने लगाये हैं, उनमें नया कुछ भी नहीं है।जल जंगल जमीन और आजीविका से बहुसंख्य जनता को बेदखल करके, उत्पादन प्रणाली को तहस नहस करके, उत्पादक जनसमूहों के कत्लेआम के जरिये प्रकृतिक संसाधनों की बंदरबांट के सिद्धांत पर आजादी के तुरंत बाद से कारपोरेट राज जारी है। पूंजी के इस खुल्ला खेल फर्ऱूखाबादी के खिलाफ आजतक कोई प्रतिरोध नहीं हुआ। भंडाफोड़ करने की रघुकुल रीति चली आयी, पर उसका क्या अंजाम हुआ केजरीवाल अपने गुरिल्ला युद्ध को किस अंजाम तक कैसे लि जायेंगे, इसका अभी खुलासा नहीं है। इसके बावजूद सत्तवर्ग का एकजुट होकर उनके खिलाफ मोर्चा खोलना हैरतअंगेज है। क्या कहीं कुछ टूटने लगा है? केजरीवाल और प्रशांत भूषण के आरोपों के जवाब में भाजपा प्रवक्ता मुख्तार अब्बास नकवी ने कहा कि केजरीवाल टीम हिट एंड रन (वार करो और फरार हो जाओ) की मासिक मंडी और साप्ताहिक बाजार बनकर रह गई है। रंजन भट्टाचार्य और नीरा राडिया के ऑडियो के बाबत कोई टिप्पणी करने से उन्होंने इनकार कर दिया।
एक्सकैलिबर स्टीवेंस विश्वास
केजरीवाल ने रिलायंस को केजी बैसिन का आबंटन रद्द करने की मांग की है।अरविंद केजरीवाल ने इस बार मशहूर उद्योगपति और रियायंस इंडस्ट्री के मुकेश अंबानी को निशाने पर लिया।रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज में 2017 तक शेयर मूल्य के हिसाब से 100 अरब डॉलर की हैसियत की कंपनी बनने की क्षमता है।अरबपति और रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज के मुखिया मुकेश अंबानी देश के सबसे धनी व्यक्ति हैं। हालांकि उनका नेटवर्थ पिछले एक साल में 1.6 अरब डॉलर कम होकर 21 अरब डॉलर रहा, लेकिन इसके बावजूद वह दूसरे पायदान पर रहे लक्ष्मी मित्तल से आगे हैं। केजरीवाल ने आरोप लगाए हैं कि सरकार ने मुकेश अंबानी की कंपनी रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज को 1 लाख करोड़ रुपये से ज्यादा का फायदा पहुंचाया है।भाजपा अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी और गांधी परिवार के दामाद रॉबर्ट वाड्रा पर सवाल खड़े करने के बाद अरविंद केजरीवाल ने बुधवार को प्रेसवार्ता कर भारत की दिग्गज कार्पोरेट कंपनी रिलायंस पर सवाल खड़े किए।केजरीवाल ने एक बार फिर चौंकाया और निशाने पर लिया देश के सबसे बड़े बिजनेसमैन मुकेश अंबानी को। केजरीवाल ने अंबानी की कंपनी रिलायंस को मिले केजी बेसिन के ठेके और उसमें हुई कथित गड़बड़ियों का मामला उठाया और सरकार के कंपनी के सामने नतमस्तक होने का आरोप मढ़ा। केजरीवाल का कहना है कि भाजपा और कांग्रेस दोनों मुकेश अंबानी की जेब में हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि बढती महंगाई के लिए उद्योगपति और राजनेता जिम्मेदार हैं। केजरीवाल जब अंबानी पर आरोप लगा रहे थे इसी दौरान उनकी प्रेस कांफ्रेंस में हंगामा हो गया। यह हंगामा सवाल पूछने की बात को लेकर हुआ।कृष्णा-गोदावरी बेसिन यानी केजी बेसिन आबादी से 25 किलोमीटर दूर बंगाल की खाड़ी में बना है। देश की सबसे अमीर शख्सियत मुकेश अंबानी की रिलायंस इंडस्ट्री ने यहां से 2008 में तेल निकालना शुरू किया था और इसी के साथ उनकी कंपनी पानी के नीचे से तेल निकालने वाली पहली कंपनी बन गई थी।
इंडिया अगेंस्ट करप्शन के तीन सवाल
1. क्या केजी बेसिन में स्थित गैस सिर्फ रिलायंस की है? जबकि इस मामले में सुप्रीम कोर्ट कह चुका है गैस देश के लोगों की है।
2. क्या इस सरकार को देश के उद्योग घराने चला रहे हैं?
3. क्या प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह किसी मजबूरी में इन फैसलों पर अमल कर रहे हैं?
दो मांग
1. इन खुलासों के साथ ही केजरीवाल ने कहा कि सरकार रिलांयस इंडस्ट्रीज का केजी बेसिन का ठेका रद्द करे।
2. गैस निकासी का ठेका नए सिरे से किसी बिजली बनाने वाली सरकारी कंपनियों को दे।
पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय ने रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज के केजी-डी6 क्षेत्र में हुए खर्च की कैग की लेखापरीक्षा के लिये तय बैठक आगे के लिये टाल दी।कैग ने केजी डी6 गैस ब्लॉक के दूसरे दौर की लेखापरीक्षा शुरु करने के लिये रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज और पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय के साथ शुरुआती बैठक बुलाई थी।इसमें रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज के केजी-डी6 क्षेत्र में 2008-09 और 2011-12 में किए गए खर्च की लेखापरीक्षा की जानी है।मामले से जुड़े सूत्रों ने बताया कि मंत्रालय ने 29 अक्टूबर को सभी पक्षों को पत्र लिखकर बैठक स्थगित होने के बारे में सूचित किया।बताया जाता है कि यह बैठक इसलिए स्थगित की गई, क्योंकि कैग के ऑडिट की प्रकृति और दायरे को लेकर मतभेद थे।रिलायंस ने यह लिखित आश्वासन मांगा था कि कैग की लेखापरीक्षा केवल उत्पादन भागीदारी करार 'पीएससी' के तहत सिर्फ बहीखातों और रिकार्ड तक सीमित होगी।कंपनी को पीएससी के तहत लेखा प्रक्रियाओं की धारा 1.9 से अलग कोई दस्तावेज उपलब्ध कराने को नहीं कहा जाएगा और न ही किसी तरह का स्पष्टीकरण मांगा जाएगा।
इसके साथ ही कंपनी ने यह शर्त भी रखी कि लेखापरीक्षा उसके परिसर में होनी चाहिये और रिपोर्ट को पीएससी के तहत पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय को सौंपा जाए, संसद को नहीं।वहीं दूसरी ओर मंत्रालय ने जोर देकर कहा था कि कंपनी कैग को अपने बही खातों को बिना किसी रुकावट के दिखाए।इसके लंबित रहने तक मंत्रालय ने कंपनी के निवेश प्रस्तावों को मंजूरी रोकी हुई है.
सूत्रों ने बताया कि यह बैठक इसीलिए स्थगित की गई ताकि मतभेदों को सुलझाया जा सके।
मंत्रालय ने 23 अक्टूबर को रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज को पत्र लिखकर कहा था कि कैग कंपनी के प्रदर्शन का ऑडिट नहीं करेगा और निगरानी समिति ने पहले ही कंपनी के विकास प्रस्तावों को मंजूरी दे दी है।सूत्रों ने हालांकि,बताया कि केजी-डी6 ब्लाक में 2010-11, 2011-12 और 2012-13 के लिए सालाना पूंजीगत खर्च के प्रस्ताव को अभी तक मंजूर नहीं किया गया है। केजी-डी6 ब्लॉक पर प्रबंधन समिति ने 7 अगस्त को पिछले तीन साल के लिए निवेश प्रस्ताव को मंजूर किया है, लेकिन अभी तक इस प्रस्ताव पर दस्तखत नहीं हुए हैं।
दो साल के लंबे इंतजार के बाद रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज को कृष्णा गोदावरी [केजी] बेसिन में 1.53 अरब डॉलर और निवेश करने की सरकार से मंजूरी मिल गई है। इस राशि का इस्तेमाल डी6 ब्लॉक के आसपास के चार क्षेत्रों के विकास में होगा। इससे इन क्षेत्रों से रोजाना एक करोड़ 36 लाख घनमीटर गैस का उत्पादन हो सकेगा।
पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राकृतिक गैस राज्य मंत्री आरपीएन सिंह ने गुरुवार को लोकसभा में यह जानकारी दी। इनमें डी2, डी6, डी19 और डी22 क्षेत्र शामिल हैं। यहां से वर्ष 2016 के मध्य तक गैस उत्पादन होने लगेगा। इन चार क्षेत्रों में 617 अरब घन मीटर गैस का भंडार है। यहां से आठ साल तक उत्पादन हो सकेगा। केजी-डी6 ब्लॉक की निगरानी समिति ने 3 जनवरी को इस निवेश योजना को मंजूरी दी। इस समिति में पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय और हाइड्रोकार्बन महानिदेशालय के अधिकारी शामिल हैं।
इन क्षेत्रों में ब्रिटेन की बीपी और कनाडा की निको रिसोर्सेज भी रिलायंस की भागीदार हैं। इस नए निवेश से केजी-डी6 ब्लॉक में घटते उत्पादन को संभाला जा सकेगा। पिछले 18 महीने में डी6 ब्लॉक के उत्पादन में 40 फीसदी की कमी आई है। यहां से फिलहाल 3.4 करोड़ घन मीटर गैस का रोजाना उत्पादन हो रहा है। पूर्व योजना के मुताबिक अब तक यहां से रोजाना आठ करोड़ घन मीटर गैस का उत्पादन होना था।
सरकार ने जब से सबसिडी वाले सिलेंडरों की गिनती तय कर दी है, तब से लोग इसी कोशिश में हैं कि किसी तरह उन्हें कम कीमत पर अधिक सिलेंडर मिल पाएं। हालांकि कई कुछ राज्यों में सस्ते सिलेंडरों की गिनती छह से नौ कर दी गई है, पर कुछ राज्यों में लोगों को महंगी एलपीजी से ही गुजारा करना पड़ेगा। ऐसे में इन लोगों के लिए यह खबर खुशखबरी साबित हो सकत है।सूत्रों से जानकारी मिली है कि रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज की घरेलू रसोई गैस के रिटेल कारोबार में उतरने की तैयारी में है। सूत्रों के मुताबिक अनसब्सिडाइज्ड एलपीजी मार्केट में पकड़ बनाने के लिए रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज आकर्षक कीमतें तय करेगी। गुजरात और महाराष्ट्र से कंपनी एलपीजी कारोबार शुरू करेगी। कंपनी के पास बाजार भाव पर 200-300 रुपये का मार्जिन है।
कारपोरेट राज का यह आलम भी देखिये।जानकारी मिली है कि जीएएआर को 1 और साल के टाला जा सकता है। जीएएआर को पहले ही वित्त वर्ष 2014 तक टाला जा चुका है।सूत्रों के मुताबिक सरकार वित्त वर्ष 2015 से जीएएआर लागू करने का मन बना रही है। माना जा रहा है कि शोम कमेटी ने जीएएआर को 3 साल के लिए टालने की सिफारिश की थी। मामले पर गुरुवार को सरकार अंतिम फैसला सुना सकती है।पुरानी तारीख से टैक्स वसूलने को लेकर शोम कमेटी में मतभेद हो गया है। सूत्रों से मिली जानकारी के मुताबिर कई सदस्य इस कानून के पक्ष में नहीं हैं।शोम पैनल में पिछली तारीख से टैक्स वसूलने को लेकर मतभेद हो गए हैं। सूत्रों के मुताबिक कई सदस्य पिछली तारीख से टैक्स वसूली के पक्ष में नहीं हैं। सूत्रों का ये भी कहना है कि सदस्य रेट्रोस्पेक्टिव टैक्स लागू करने के पक्ष में नहीं हैं। रेट्रोस्पेक्टिव टैक्स लागू करने के फैसले पर सहमति नहीं बन पा रही है।सूत्रों के मुताबिक वैलिडेशन क्लॉज पर कल चर्चा हो सकती है। पुरानी तारीख से टैक्स वसूली पर अंतिम फैसला वित्त मंत्री लेंगे।वित्त वर्ष 2013 की पहली छमाही खत्म हो गई है। इस दौरान बाजार में अच्छी तेजी जरूर देखने को मिली। तेजी के इस दौर में बाजार के 6,000 तक जाने की उम्मीद जताई जाने लगी। हालांकि अब बाजार पर दबाव दिख रहा है और निफ्टी के 6,000 तक पहुंचने के आसार नहीं दिख रहे हैं। लिहाजा बाजार के दिग्गज जानकार वित्त वर्ष 2014 में बाजार में जबर्दस्त तेजी आने की उम्मीद जता रहे हैं।
रिजर्व बैंक ने मंगलवार को मौद्रिक नीति की मध्यावधि समीक्षा में नकद आरक्षित अनुपात (सीआरआर) में 0.25 फीसदी की कटौती की, लेकिन रेपो और रिवर्स रेपो रेट में कोई बदलाव नहीं किया गया। आरबीआई के इस कदम से कर्ज का बोझ कुछ कम होने की उम्मीद लगाए बैठे लोगों को तो निराशा हुई ही है, साथ ही केंद्रीय वित्त मंत्री पी. चिदंबरम भी खासे खफा नजर आ रहे हैं।आगामी 3 नवंबर से सीआरआर 4.50 से 4.25 फीसदी हो जाएगा। आरबीआई के ऐलान के बाद ही बैंकों ने साफ संकेत दे दिया कि हाल-फिलहाल कर्ज सस्ता होने की संभावना नहीं है। इस बीच, चिदंबरम ने कहा कि महंगाई जितना ही महत्व आर्थिक विकास को भी दिया जाना चाहिए। आर्थिक विकास भी एक चुनौती है और अगर विकास के लिए सरकार को अकेले ही आगे बढ़ना होगा तो हम अकेले ही बढ़ेंगे।आरबीआई ने भले ही महंगाई का हवाला देते हुए रेपो रेट को यथावत रखा हो, लेकिन वित्त मंत्री पी. चिदंबरम उसके इस तर्क से कतई सहमत नहीं हैं। चिदंबरम ने मंगलवार को यहां कहा, 'महंगाई को काबू में रखना जितनी बड़ी चुनौती है, उतना ही बड़ा चैलेंज विकास भी है।' इसके साथ ही वित्त मंत्री ने कुछ कठोर लहजे में कहा, 'अगर जरूरत पड़ी तो सरकार अकेले ही इस चुनौती का सामना करने के लिए निकल पड़ेगी।'मौद्रिक नीति की समीक्षा पर प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त करते हुए चिदंबरम ने कहा, 'सरकार साफ-साफ शब्दों में यह संदेश दे रही है कि वह सरकारी खजाने की हालत दुरुस्त करने और राजकोषीय घाटे पर अंकुश लगाने की दिशा में अग्रसर है। मुझे उम्मीद है कि फिस्कल कंसोलिडेशन को लेकर सरकार द्वारा जताई जा रही प्रतिबद्धता को हर कोई समझने की कोशिश करेगा।'मौद्रिक नीति का आगे जिक्र करते हुए उन्होंने कहा, 'मैंने इस स्टेटमेंट के अंत में लिखे कुछ पैराग्राफ नहीं पढ़े हैं। हालांकि, अगर उनमें भविष्य को लेकर उम्मीदें जाहिर की गई हैं तो मैं उस आने वाले समय को ध्यान में रखूंगा।' वित्त मंत्री ने यह टिप्पणी संभवत: मौद्रिक नीति के उस पैराग्राफ को ध्यान में रखकर की है जिसमें कहा गया है कि अंतिम तिमाही में रेपो रेट घटाया जा सकता है।
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने प्रेस कांफ्रेंस में नीरा राडिया के टेप भी सुनवाए। उन्होंने नीरा राडिया और रिश्ते में पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री के दामाद रंजन भट्टाचार्य के बीच हुई बातचीत का टेप सुनवाया। इस टेप में नीरा राडिया और रंजन यह बात कर रहे हैं कि मंत्री वही बनेगा जिसे अंबानी परिवार चाहेगा। भट्टाचार्य ने कांग्रेस के बारे में टिप्पणी करते हुए कहा- कांग्रेस तो अपनी ही दुकान है। हालांकि अरविंद केजरीवाल ने सिर्फ कांग्रेस पर ही निशाना नहीं साधा बल्कि भाजपा को भी रिलायंस के हाथों बिका हुआ बताया। अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कहा कि भाजपा सरकार के वक्त अनुचित फायदा पहुंचाकर रिलायंस को गैस ब्लॉक दिए गए। गौरतलब है कि साल 2000 में रिलायसं को केजी बेसिन का ठेका मिला था। रिलायंस पर आरोप लगाते हुए अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कहा, 'सरकार को ब्लैकमेल करने के लिए रिलायंस ने गैस का उत्पादन कम कर दिया। रिलायंस ने सरकार को मजबूर करके अपनी पसंद के लोगों को मंत्री बनवाया ताकि देश में गैस के दाम बढ़ाए जा सके।'
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने प्रधानमंत्री पर पद का दुरुपयोग कर मुकेश अंबानी की कंपनी रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज को फायदा पहुंचाने का आरोप लगाया है। केजरीवाल के मुताबिक पहले भाजपा नीत राजग सरकार ने इस कंपनी को फायदा पहुंचाने वाली शर्तो पर इसे प्राकृतिक गैस का ठेका दिया। इसके बाद कांग्रेस नीत संप्रग सरकार ने पहले से तय दर में वृद्धि कर दी। अरविंद ने रिलायंस पर गैस की जमाखोरी का आरोप भी लगाया। उन्होंने कहा कि कांग्रेस-भाजपा दोनों मुकेश अंबानी की जेब में हैं। ऐसा लगता है देश को मुकेश अंबानी ही चला रहे हैं।
केंद्रीय मंत्रिपरिषद में रविवार को हुए फेरबदल पर उन्होंने पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राकृतिक गैस मंत्री जयपाल रेड्डी को पद से हटाए जाने पर सवाल खड़ा किया है। केजरीवाल ने रेड्डी का पक्ष लेते हुए कहा क्या सरकार ने ईमानदार रेड्डी को पद रिलायंस को खुश करने के लिए हटाया?जयपाल रेड्डी के स्थान पर अब वीरप्पा मोइली नए पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राकृतिक गैस मंत्री हैं तो अब क्या एलपीजी और बिजली की कीमतें फिर बढ़ेंगी। जयपाल रेड्डी को ईमानदार होने की सजा मिली, सलमान खुर्शीद भ्रष्ट हैं इसलिए उन्हें प्रमोशन दिया गया। उन्होंने इस फेरबदल पर ट्विट किया और बोल भ्रष्ट मंत्रियों को प्रमोशन दिया गया है. उन्होंने कहा कि इस फेर बदल से कोई लाभ नहीं है।
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कहा कि रिलायंस को एनडीए सरकार ने केजी बेसिन का ठेका दिया था ताकि वह गैस निकालकर देश की जरूरतें पूरी कर सके। ये गैस रिलायंस को साल 2017 तक सवा दो डॉलर प्रति यूनिट बेचनी थी लेकिन 2006 में ही इसके लिए कंपनी ने सवा चार डॉलर प्रति यूनिट मांगे। तत्कालीन पेट्रोलियम मंत्री मणिशंकर अय्यर इसके लिए राजी नहीं थे इसलिए हटा दिए गए और रिलायंस के आदमी माने जाने वाले मुरली देवड़ा को ये मंत्रालय मिला।इसके बाद वर्ष 2007 में तत्कालीन केंद्रीय वित्त मंत्री प्रणब मुखर्जी की अध्यक्षता में अधिकार प्राप्त मंत्रियों के समूह ने रिलायंस के दबाव के आगे झुकते हुए 2014 तक 4.25 डॉलर प्रति युनिट के हिसाब से अनुमति दे दी। आज रिलायंस सरकार से इसके लिए सवा 14 डॉलर प्रति यूनिट मांग रही है। रिलायंस की इसी मांग का विरोध करने के चलते पेट्रोलियम मंत्री जयपाल रेड्डी को हटाकर वीरप्पा मोइली को मंत्री बनाया गया है।
केजरीवाल ने कहा कि अगर मोइली ने रिलायंस की सवा 14 डॉलर प्रति यूनिट गैस की मांग मान ली तो इस देश में बिजली सात रुपये प्रति यूनिट के हिसाब से मिलेगी। देश को करीब 43 हजार करोड़ रुपये का नुकसान होगा। अगर जनता को ये मंजूर है तो ठीक है लेकिन अगर नहीं है तो वो इसके खिलाफ खड़ी हो ताकि सरकार मजबूर होकर रिलायंस की मांग ठुकरा दे।
केजरीवाल ने कहा कि केजी बेसिन का ठेका रिलायंस को मिला लेकिन रिलायंस ने जुलाई 2011 में इसका एक हिस्सा ब्रिटिश पेट्रोलियम को 35 हजार करोड़ रुपये में बेच दिया। लेकिन किसी ने सवाल नहीं उठाए और सरकार देखती रही। रिलायंस गैस की जमाखोरी कर रही है ताकि जब सरकार दाम बढ़ा दे तब वो उसे बेचे और फायदा कमाए।
रिलायंस को सरकार को 8 हजार करोड़ यूनिट गैस देनी थी लेकिन उसने दी महज 2 हजार करोड़ यूनिट। रिलायंस ने गैस प्रोडक्शन जानबूझकर घटा दी। उसने 2009 से गैस का उत्पादन तय सीमा से एक तिहाई कर दिया। केजरीवाल ने कहा कि इसकी वजह से गैस आधारित बिजली घरों को बंद करना पड़ा।
केजरीवाल ने कहा कि जब जयपाल रेड्डी ने रिलायंस की कारगुजारियों के खिलाफ आवाज उठाई और 7000 करोड़ रुपये के जुर्माने का नोटिस भेजा तो उन्हें इसका खामियाजा भुगतना पड़ा। मुकेश अंबानी के दबाव में रेड्डी को मंत्रालय से हटा दिया गया।
कांग्रेस ने आज अरविंद केजरीवाल के आरोपों को 'निराधार' बताते हुए खारिज किया और पलटवार करते हुए इंडिया अगेंसट करप्शन की फंडिंग स्रोत को लेकर सवाल उठाए। केजरीवाल ने आरोप लगाया कि संप्रग सरकार मुकेश अंबानी का पक्ष ले रही है।कांग्रेस महासचिव बीके हरिप्रसाद ने संवाददाताओं को कहा, 'यह निराधार है। आजकल आईएसी के लिए आरोप लगाना फैशन हो गया है। आपके पास फंड कहां से आ रहे हैं? आईएसी को फंड कौन दे रहा है? रामलीला मैदान से लेकर इस संवाददाता सम्मेलन तक यह फोर्ड फाउंडेशन है।' भाजपा और केजरीवाल के बीच गठजोड़ की बात कहते हुए हरिप्रसाद ने सवाल किया, 'वह उन प्रदेशों में क्यों नहीं जा रहे जो आंकठ भ्रष्टाचार में डूबे हैं। उन्हें दूसरों पर आरोप लगाने से पहले अपने ऊपर लगे आरोपों पर सफाई देनी चाहिए।'उन्होंने कहा, 'अगर सरकार को मुकेश अंबानी चला रहे हैं तो आईएसी को विदेश में बैठे लोग चला रहे हैं।' उन्होंने आरोप लगाया कि अरविंद केजरीवाल मीडिया को आकर्षित करने के लिए ऐसा कर रहे हैं।
भाजपा अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी के कारोबार की गड़बडिय़ां उजागर होने के बाद अब इंडिया अगेंस्ट करप्शन के नेता अरविंद केजरीवाल भाजपाइयों के निशाने पर हैं। मध्यप्रदेश भाजपा अध्यक्ष और पार्टी के राष्ट्रीय मुखपत्र कमल संदेश के संपादक प्रभात झा ने केजरीवाल के पीछे विदेशी करेंसी का खेल होने की आशंका जताई है। कमल संदेश के ताजा अंक में झा ने संपादकीय में तल्ख भाषा का इस्तेमाल करते हुए केजरीवाल और उनकी टीम को कुकुरमुत्तों जैसे शब्द से संबोधित किया है।तो दूसरी ओर,प्रदेश कांग्रेस प्रवक्ता अभय दुबे ने केंद्रीय गृह मंत्री सुशील कुमार शिंदे को लिखे एक पत्र में अरविंद केजरीवाल और मनीष सिसौदिया के एनजीओ को मिली विदेशी सहायता की जांच की मांग की है। दुबे ने उनके एनजीओ को मिली विदेशी सहायता पर सवाल खड़े करते हुए कहा है कि जो विदेशी एनजीओ केजरीवाल और सिसौदिया की मदद करते हैं, उनकी गतिविधियां संदिग्ध हैं।गडकरी को दूसरा कार्यकाल मिलने की संभावना के साथ ही झा भी दूसरा कार्यकाल मिलने की उम्मीद कर रहे थे। पार्टी भले ही गडकरी के बचाव की मुद्रा में हो, लेकिन संघ के हाथ खींच लेने से संगठन चुनाव असमंजस से घिर गए हैं। झा के संपादकीय को पार्टी में गडकरी के समर्थन में मुहिम के तौर पर देखा जा रहा है। झा ने कहा है कि केजरीवाल का खेल करेंसी का है।डा.मनमोहन सिंह को यह पता लगाना चाहिए कि यह करेंसी भारत की है या फिर भारत को कमजोर करने वाली शक्तियों की। झा ने गडकरी को केंद्रीय कृषि मंत्री शरद पवार की क्लीन चिट को केजरीवाल के मुंह पर करारा तमाचा बताया है। झा ने केजरीवाल को ब्लैकमेलर, अन्ना के साथ विश्वासघात करने वाला बताते हुए लिखा कि केजरीवाल की चाहत पिटने की है, ताकि जनता का भावनात्मक समर्थन मिलने लगे। झा यहीं नहीं रुके उन्होंने न्यूज चैनलों के बारे में कहा कि उन्होंने कुकुरमुत्तों को मुंह लगाकर अपना कीमती समय बर्बाद किया और जनता को भी गुमराह किया।
अनिल अंबानी की अगुआई वाले रिलायंस समूह ने एक बार फिर मध्य प्रदेश को मोटे निवेश का भरोसा दिलाया है। अपनी विस्तार योजना की घोषणा करते हुए कंपनी ने कहा कि वह राज्य में अपने कुल निवेश के आंकड़े को 30,000 करोड़ रुपये के मौजूदा स्तर से बढ़ाकर 50,000 करोड़ रुपये के पार पहुंचा देगी। रिलायंस समूह के अध्यक्ष अनिल अंबानी ने प्रदेश सरकार के आयोजित वैश्विक निवेशक सम्मेलन में कहा, 'हम अगले कुछ साल के दौरान प्रदेश में कोयला खनन, बिजली उत्पादन और सीमेंट निर्माण के क्षेत्र में 50,000 करोड़ रुपये से ज्यादा का निवेश करेंगे।' उन्होंने बताया कि रिलायंस समूह प्रदेश में इन तीनों क्षेत्रों में 30,000 करोड़ रुपये की परियोजनाओं पर आगे बढ़ रहा है। अंबानी ने बताया, 'हमारी कोयला खनन परियोजना का पहला चरण शुरू हो चुका है। हम अपने सासन संयंत्र में 660 मेगावॉट बिजली उत्पादन जल्द शुरू कर देंगे।'
बिना किसी खास एजंडे के केजरीवाल के इस गुरिल्ला युद्ध पर बीबीसी ने मौजूं सवाल किया है।कौन है केजरीवाल का अगला निशाना? देखें:
सोनिया गाँधी के दामाद क्लिक करें रॉबर्ड वाड्रा , विदेश मंत्री सलमान खुर्शीद और भारतीय जनता पार्टी अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी के बाद क्लिक करें अरविंद केजरीवाल का अगला निशाना कौन होगा और उसका संबंध किस पार्टी के साथ होगा? बुधवार को अपनी प्रेसवार्ता से कुछ घंटे पहले इंडिया अगेंस्ट करप्शन सदस्य अरविंद केजरीवाल ने अपने ट्वीट में कहा, "आज के पर्दाफाश को देखें. ये बहुत बड़ा हो सकता है." जब अरविंद केजरीवाल ने क्लिक करें रॉबर्ड वाड्रा के खिलाफ डीएलएफ के साथ मिलकर भ्रष्टाचार का आरोप लगाया था, तब विपक्षी भाजपा ने जाँच की तो मांग की थी लेकिन बहुत शोर-शराबा नहीं मचाया.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/india/2012/10/121031_kejriwal_attack_vk.shtml
दिल्ली के कंस्टीट्यूशन क्लब में आज अरविंद केजरीवाल की प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस में दिल्ली प्रदेश कांग्रेस के सचिव जगदीश शर्मा ने सवाल पूछने को लेकर हंगामा किया। साथ ही उन्होंने केजरीवाल पर जूता फेंकने की कोशिश की। पीसी के दौरान एक आदमी घुस आया और उसने सवाल पूछने को लेकर हंगामा शुरु कर दिया। केजरीवाल ने इस पर कहा कि वो जानते हैं कि ऐसा उनके साथ होगा। उन्होंने कहा कि वो बड़ी शक्तियों के खिलाफ आवाज बुलंद कर रहे हैं तो ये तो होगा ही। उन्होंने कहा कि इसके बाद भी हमलोग भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ आवाज उठाते रहेंगे।केजरीवाल की प्रेस कांफ्रेंस में हंगामा करने वाले लोगों ने कहा कि वो भी भारत के आम आदमी है और ईमानदार प्रधानमंत्री पर सवाल उठाए जाने का विरोध कर रहे थे। हंगामा करने वाले लोग कांग्रेस से जुड़े बताए जा रहे हैं।
कारपोरेट राज के भंडाफोड़ से कांग्रेस और भाजपा दोनों को गुस्सा आया। क्यों?रिलायंस की प्रतिक्रिया समझ में आती है। लोकतंत्र में रिलायंस को अपना बचाव करने का हक है। पर कारपोरेट राज के भंडाफोड़ से एक ही सुर में क्यों बोल रहे हैं कांग्रेसी और भाजपाई नेता?दूसरी ओर, जो आरोप केजरीवाल ने लगाये हैं, उनमें नया कुछ भी नहीं है।जल जंगल जमीन और आजीविका से बहुसंख्य जनता को बेदखल करके, उत्पादन प्रणाली को तहस नहस करके, उत्पादक जनसमूहों के कत्लेआम के जरिये प्रकृतिक संसाधनों की बंदरबांट के सिद्धांत पर आजादी के तुरंत बाद से कारपोरेट राज जारी है। पूंजी के इस खुल्ला खेल फर्ऱूखाबादी के खिलाफ आजतक कोई प्रतिरोध नहीं हुआ। भंडाफोड़ करने की रघुकुल रीति चली आयी, पर उसका क्या अंजाम हुआ केजरीवाल अपने गुरिल्ला युद्ध को किस अंजाम तक कैसे लि जायेंगे, इसका अभी खुलासा नहीं है। इसके बावजूद सत्तवर्ग का एकजुट होकर उनके खिलाफ मोर्चा खोलना हैरतअंगेज है। क्या कहीं कुछ टूटने लगा है?
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने हंगामे पर कहा- जब हम कांग्रेस, भाजपा और कार्पोरेट जगत के खिलाफ आवाज उठाएंगे तो ऐसे हंगामा करके हमें रोकने की कोशिश भी की जाएगी लेकिन हमारी आवाज नहीं दबेगी। हम तमाम अरवोधों के बावजूद भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ बोलते रहेंगे।
रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज लिमिटेड (आरआईएल) ने केजी-डी6 गैस परियोजना मामले में सरकार द्वारा उसका पक्ष लिए जाने के इंडिया अगेंस्ट क्रप्शन (आईएसी) के आरोपों को खारिज किया और कहा कि ये आरोप निहित स्वार्थी तत्वों के उकसावे पर लगाए गए हैं। कंपनी ने जारी एक वक्तव्य में कहा ''आईएसी ने जो वक्तव्य दिया है, उसमें कोई सच्चाई और तथ्य नहीं है और हम उसका खंडन करते हैं।'' आरआईएल ने कहा केजी-डी6 परियोजना सबसे गहरे समुद्र की परियोजना है और इसे छह महीने के रिकॉर्ड समय में तैयार किया गया।
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने अपने आरोपों में कहा-
'साल 2006 में मणिशंकर अय्यर को मंत्रीपद से हटाकर मुरली देवड़ा को मंत्री बनाया गया था ताकि रिलायंस की गैस की कीमत को 2.34 डॉलर प्रति ब्रिटिश थर्मल यूनिट (एमएमबीटीयू) से बढ़ाकर 4.2 डॉलर प्रति एमएमबीटीयू किया जा सके।
साल 2012 में पेट्रोलियम मंत्री जयपाल रेड्डी को भी मंत्रीपद से हटा दिया गया ताकि एक बार फिर रिलायंस की मांग के आगे झुका जा सके क्योंकि जयपाल रेड्डी रिलायंस की ब्लैकमेलिंग के आगे नहीं झुक रहे थे। रिलायंस ने गैस का उत्पादन कम करके सरकार को ब्लैकमेल करने की कोशिश भी की थी। रिलायंस ने 14.2 डॉलर प्रति एमएमबीटीयू की मांग की थी जबकि जयपाल रेड्डी ने मना कर दिया था।
यदि अब सरकार रिलायंस की इस मांग के आगे झुक गई और कीमतों को बढ़ाकर 14.2 डॉलर प्रति एमएमबीटीयू कर दिया गया तो देश में खाद की कीमतें बढ़ जाएंगी और कई गैस चलित पॉवर प्लांट बंद हो जाएंगे। इससे रिलायंस को 43 हजार करोड़ रुपये का फायदा होगा।
केजरीवाल ने आगे कहा- रिलायंस को गैस के फील्ड इसलिए नहीं दिए गए थे ताकि वो इन पर अपना मालिकाना हक जमा लें। बल्कि इसलिए दिए गए थे ताकि देश की गैस की जरूरतें पूरी हो सकें लेकिन पिछले साल ही रिलायंस ने गैस फील्ड का 30 प्रतिशत ब्रिटिश पेट्रोलियम को बेचकर 35 हजार करोड़ का मुनाफा कमाया।
अरविंद केजरीवाल ने यह भी कहा कि देश को प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह नहीं बल्कि मुकेश अंबानी चला रहे हैं। उन्होंने कहा कि प्रधानमंत्री और उनकी सरकार मुकेश अंबानी की जेब में है। उन्होंने आरोप लगाते हुए कहा कि मुरली देवड़ा ने करीब एक लाख करोड़ रुपये का अनुचित फायदा रिलायंस को पहुंचाया।
केजरीवाल ने सीधे प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह पर सवाल खड़ा करते हुए कहा, 'क्या कांग्रेस मुकेश अंबानी की दुकान है?' भ्रष्टाचार की परिभाषा के मुताबिक सिर्फ रिश्वत लेने वाला व्यक्ति ही नहीं, अपने पद का दुरुपयोग कर किसी को फायदा पहुंचाने वाला भी भ्रष्टाचार का उतना ही दोषी माना गया है। इस लिहाज से प्रधानमंत्री इस मामले में सीधे दोषी हैं। कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी के दामाद का खुलासा कर चुके केजरीवाल ने इस बार भाजपा के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी के दामाद रंजन भंट्टाचार्य की बातचीत के टेप भी सुनवाए। अंबानी की लॉबिस्ट नीरा राडिया से बातचीत में भंट्टाचार्य दावा कर रहे हैं कि मुकेश ने उनसे कहा कि कांग्रेस तो अब अपनी दुकान है। यह टेप सुनवाते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि ये वही भंट्टाचार्य हैं, जिनके बारे में कुछ दिन पहले दिग्विजय सिंह ने कहा था कि ये भाजपा के पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री के दामाद हैं, इसलिए वह इनके बारे में कुछ नहीं बोलेंगे।
केजरीवाल ने कहा, '2006 में तत्कालीन पेट्रोलियम मंत्री मणिशंकर अय्यर को प्रधानमंत्री ने इसलिए हटाया था क्योंकि उन्होंने रिलायंस को अनुचित फायदा पहुंचाने से मना कर दिया था। उनकी जगह प्रधानमंत्री ने मुरली देवड़ा को पेट्रोलियम मंत्री बना दिया, जिनके बारे में कहा जाता है कि वह रिलायंस के आदमी हैं। उन्होंने मंत्री बनते ही रिलायंस से खरीदी जा रही गैस की दर 2.34 डॉलर से बढ़ाकर 4.2 डॉलर प्रति यूनिट कर दी। साथ ही इस योजना पर कंपनी के खर्च की सीमा भी लगभग तीन गुना बढ़ा दी।'
केजरीवाल ने कहा कि इस मामले में भाजपा और कांग्रेस बराबर के दोषी हैं। क्योंकि वर्ष 2000 में इस कंपनी को भारी फायदा पहुंचाने वाली एकतरफा शर्तो पर राजग सरकार ने ही इसे ठेका दिया था। इन शर्तो के मुताबिक कंपनी इस परियोजना पर जितनी चाहे लागत बढ़ा सकती है। यह लागत जितनी बढ़ेगी उसका फायदा उतने ही अनुपात में बढ़ा दिया जाएगा। केजरीवाल के सहयोगी और सुप्रीम कोर्ट के वरिष्ठ वकील प्रशांत भूषण के मुताबिक ऐसी शर्तो पर कोई सौदा नहीं किया जाता। उन्होंने रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज को दिए गए इस ठेके को तुरंत रद करने की मांग की।
केजरीवाल के मुताबिक इस बार जयपाल रेड्डी को हटाकर वीरप्पा मोइली को पेट्रोलियम मंत्री बनाकर रिलायंस से खरीदी जा रही गैस की दर 14.25 डॉलर प्रति यूनिट करने की तैयारी की जा रही है। इस दौरान कंपनी जानबूझकर गैस का उत्पादन कम कर इसकी जमाखोरी कर रही है। ताकि सरकार की ओर से दर बढ़ाने के बाद जबरदस्त मुनाफा कमा सके। कंपनी ने बार-बार शर्तो का उल्लंघन किया तब प्रधानमंत्री को कोई चिंता नहीं हुई। मगर जैसे ही अंबानी ने उनसे गैस की दर बढ़ाने का अनुरोध किया तो उन्होंने उनकी मांग पर तुरंत अटार्नी जनरल से कानूनी राय मांग ली। ऐसे में सवाल है कि क्या प्रधानमंत्री का दिल सिर्फ रिलायंस जैसी कंपनियों के लिए धड़कता है। केजरीवाल की प्रेस कांफ्रेस के दौरान ही कुछ लोगों ने हंगामा करने की भी कोशिश की। एक व्यक्ति ने जूता उन पर फेंकने के लिए हाथ में उठा लिया था, मगर उसे पहले ही पकड़ लिया गया।
जवाब देने लायक नहीं आरोप: रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज
रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज लिमिटेड [आरआइएल] ने कहा है कि अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कुछ स्वार्थी ताकतों के इशारे पर बेबुनियाद आरोप लगाए हैं। केजरीवाल को इस उद्योग की सामान्य समझ भी नहीं है, इसलिए उनके आरोप जवाब देने के लायक नहीं हैं। कंपनी की ओर से जारी बयान में कहा गया है कि 'इंडिया अगेंस्ट करप्शन की प्रेस कांफ्रेंस में जो आरोप लगाए गए हैं, वे सच्चाई से परे हैं और इनमें कोई तथ्य नहीं।
केजी-डी 6 बेसिन में गहरे पानी के अंदर गैस निकालने के काम में बेहतरीन तकनीकी संसाधनों का इस्तेमाल किया जा रहा है। तेल और गैस उद्योग ने इस तरह की परियोजनाओं में इसे बेहतरीन माना है। इस परियोजना ने देश की अर्थव्यवस्था में बहुत योगदान किया है। हर मायने में यह ऐसी परियोजना है, जिस पर देश गर्व कर सकता है।'
रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज के खिलाफ सीबीआइ खाली हाथ
जागरण ब्यूरो, नई दिल्ली। देश की सबसे बड़ी जांच एजेंसी सीबीआइ पिछले तीन सालों की जांच के बाद भी यह तय नहीं कर पाई है कि केजी बेसिन मामले में रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज के खिलाफ एफआइआर दर्ज की जाए या नहीं। इसके लिए भी सीबीआइ को अटार्नी जनरल की राय का इंतजार करना पड़ रहा है। केजी बेसिन से गैस निकालने की लागत में दो साल के भीतर तीन गुना बढ़ोतरी को हरी झंडी देने के मामले की सीबीआइ 2009 से ही प्रारंभिक जांच कर रही है।
दरअसल, सीबीआइ के कुछ अधिकारी गैस उत्पादन की लागत तीन गुना से अधिक बढ़ाए जाने की साजिश के लिए रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज और हाईड्रोकार्बन निदेशालय के तत्कालीन महानिदेशक वीके सिब्बल व अन्य अधिकारियों के खिलाफ एफआइआर दर्ज करना चाहते हैं। उनके अनुसार जांच के बाद ही इस साजिश से पर्दा उठ सकता है। लेकिन सीबीआइ के विशेष निदेशक स्तर के अधिकारी एफआइआर दर्ज करने के पक्ष में नहीं है। इसी विशेष निदेशक ने मामले पर इस साल मई में अटार्नी जनरल की राय लेने का सुझाव दिया था, जिसे सीबीआइ निदेशक एपी सिंह ने स्वीकार कर लिया। जांच से जुड़े अधिकारियों की मानें तो रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज की तरफदारी करने वाले वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने जानबूझकर मामले को उलझा दिया है।
क्या है केजी डी6-ब्लॉक
- कृष्णा-गोदावरी [केजी] बेसिन आंध्र प्रदेश में स्थित है। यह कृष्णा और गोदावरी नदी के बीच करीब 50 हजार वर्ग किमी में फैला हुआ है।
- 2002 में रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज ने इसी बेसिन में देश के सबसे बड़े प्राकृतिक भंडार की खोज की थी। । इस क्षेत्र को डी6-ब्लॉक नाम दिया गया
कैग रिपोर्ट :
- आठ सितंबर, 2011 को नियंत्रण एवं महालेखा परीक्षक [कैग] ने संसद में पेश अपनी रिपोर्ट में सरकार द्वारा केजी बेसिन के डी6-ब्लॉक को पूरी तरह रिलायंस को देने पर आपत्ति दर्ज की थी।
- कैग ने रिलायंस को कायदे कानून को ताक पर रख कर सहयोग देने के लिए पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय और हाइड्रोकार्बन महानिदेशालय [डीजीएच] की भूमिका पर गंभीर सवाल खड़े किए थे
क्या है विवाद
वर्ष 2000 में नई अन्वेषण लाइसेंसिंग नीति [नेल्प] के तहत केजी बेसिन डी6 गैस ब्लॉक रिलायंस व निको रिर्सोसेज को दिया गया। सरकार व कंपनी के बीच समझौते के मुताबिक पहले पेट्रोलियम उत्पादों की खोज के बाद ही दूसरे चरण में जाना था। जितने हिस्से में पेट्रोलियम खोज नहीं हो रही है, उसका एक चौथाई हिस्सा कंपनी को सरकार को लौटा देना था।
रिलायंस ने ऐसा नहीं किया, बल्कि सरकार से पूरे डी6 क्षेत्र को अपना डिस्कवरी क्षेत्र मानने के लिए दबाव बनाती रही। वर्ष 2004 में पेट्रोलियम मंत्री मणिशंकर अय्यर के कार्यकाल में पेट्रोलियम मंत्रालय ने रिलायंस की अर्जी खारिज कर दी। मुरली देवड़ा के पेट्रोलियम मंत्री बनने के बाद सरकार का मन बदला। केजी बेसिन का जो हिस्सा रिलायंस को दिया गया था, उस पूरे 7645 वर्ग किलोमीटर क्षेत्र को कंपनी का खोज क्षेत्र मान लिया गया।
बीजेपी अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी पर खुलासे के बाद पार्टी ने अपने मुखपत्र में अरविंद केजरीवाल पर जोरदार हमला बोला है। बीजेपी ने मुखपत्र कमलसंदेश में केजरीवाल के आंदोलन के पीछे विदेशी हाथ होने के संगीन आरोप लगाए हैं और सरकार से इसकी जांच कराने की मांग की है। अरविंद केजरीवाल को कमलसंदेश में अन्ना आंदोलन का ब्लैकमेलर तक करार दिया गया है।
एक के बाद नेताओं पर आरोप लगा रहे अरविंद केजरीवाल बीजेपी के निशाने पर आ गए हैं। पार्टी अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी पर केजरीवाल के खुलासे के बाद बीजेपी ने उन पर जोरदार हमला बोला है। बीजेपी ने अपने मुखपत्र कमल संदेश के संपादकीय लेख में आरोप लगाया है कि अरविंद केजरीवाल की टीम लोकतंत्र के प्रति अविश्वास पैदा करने की साजिश में जुटी है। केंद्र सरकार को इस आशय की गंभीर छानबीन करनी चाहिए। केजरीवाल का खेल करेंसी का हो सकता है। अब जानना ये है कि ये करेंसी भारत की है या फिर भारत को कमजोर करने वाली शक्तियों की।
केजरीवाल के खिलाफ बीजेपी के गुस्से की आग यहीं नहीं थमी। लेख में आगे लिखा है कि केजरीवाल है क्या? क्या उनके बारे में लोगों को नहीं मालूम कि वो अन्ना आंदोलन का ब्लैकमेलर या यूं कहें कि अन्ना के साथ विश्वासघात करने वाला है। जिस अन्ना ने अरविंद केजरीवाल को अपने आंदोलन के आंचल का दूध पिलाकर बड़ा किया उसी ने अन्ना का साथ छोड़ अपना नाम देश के विश्वासघातियों में शामिल कर लिया।
टीम केजरीवाल ने बीजेपी के मुखपत्र में लगाए गए आरोपों पर सधी हुई प्रतिक्रिया दी है। अरविंद के सहयोगी संजय सिंह का कहना है कि बीजेपी से और उम्मीद भी क्या की जा सकती है। जब केजरीवाल ने रॉबर्ट वाड्रा पर आरोप लगाए तो बीजेपी ने कांग्रेस पर जमकर निशाना साधा। लेकिन जब आरोप गडकरी पर लगे तो बीजेपी की नजर बदल गई। अब देखना ये है कि बीजेपी बनाम केजरीवाल की लड़ाई क्या रंग दिखाती है।
राजेन्द्र धोड़पकर, एसोशिएट एडीटर, हिन्दुस्तान ने खूब लिखा है।
इन दिनों सारी राजनैतिक पार्टियां भ्रष्टाचार को मुद्दा बना रही हैं और सारी पार्टियों के बड़े-बड़े नेताओं के भ्रष्टाचार के किस्से सामने आ रहे हैं। इससे यह लगने लगा है कि सारी ही पार्टियां लगभग बराबरी के स्तर पर भ्रष्ट हैं, बहुत हुआ तो उन्नीस बीस का फर्क होगा। इससे एक और निष्कर्ष यह निकलता है कि अगर जनता की दिली तमन्ना के मुताबिक सारे भ्रष्ट नेताओं को जेल में डाल दिया जाए तो देश की राजनैतिक व्यवस्था ठप्प हो जाएगी, विधायिका के तमाम संस्थानों में सन्नाटा छा जाएगा और पार्टियों के दफ्तर में सुबह ताला खोलने के लिए भी कोई नहीं होगा। लेकिन ऐसा नहीं है कि सिर्फ राजनेता ही भ्रष्ट हैं, हालांकि सबको भ्रष्ट राजनेताओं को भला बुरा कहना अच्छा लगता है।
नौकरशाही में हमारे आपके जैसे मध्यमवर्गीय, अपेक्षाकृत पढ़े-लिखे लोग होते हैं और वे भी राजनेताओं जितने ही भ्रष्ट होते हैं। अगर हर आदमी यह सोचे कि उसने क्या किसी मंत्री को कभी रिश्वत दी थी, तो ज्यादातर लोग इसका जवाब 'नहीं' में पाएंगे। इसके बरक्स अगर हर व्यक्ति अपने आप से पूछे कि उसने क्या किसी सरकारी कर्मचारी को कभी रिश्वत दी थी, तो शायद हर बार जवाब 'हां' में हो। एक बड़े सरकारी विभाग के एक सतर्कता अफसर ने बताया कि वह इधर-उधर इक्का-दुक्का लोगों को पकड़कर अपनी नौकरी बजाते रहते हैं, अगर सारे भ्रष्ट कर्मचारियों को पकड़ लिया जाए, तो विभाग बंद हो जाएगा।
भ्रष्ट लोगों पर गुस्सा जायज है लेकिन सारे भ्रष्ट लोगों को जेल में ठूंस देना व्यावहारिक नहीं है और संभव भी नहीं है। अच्छा हो अगर भारतीय मध्यवर्ग अपने गुस्से को कम करके कुछ गंभीरता से इस समस्या पर सोचे। तब कईं मिथ टूटेंगे, शायद हल भी सूझे। पहला भ्रम तो यही है कि सिर्फ राजनीति में भ्रष्टाचार है, जबकि हमारे जैसे मध्यवर्गीय लोग भी उतने ही भ्रष्ट हो सकते हैं। नेता तो भ्रष्टाचार से कमाया काफी कुछ पैसा वापस जनता के लिए खर्च भी करते हैं, मध्यमवर्गीय लोग तो पूरा ही डकार जाते हैं। दूसरे, दुनिया के जिन देशों में भ्रष्टाचार बहुत कम है, लगभग सभी विकसित लोकतांत्रिक देश हैं। सिंगापुर जैसा एकाध अपवाद है लेकिन वह तो एक शहर बराबर देश है।
मध्यमवर्गीय लोगों का एक मिथ यह है कि लोकतंत्र से भ्रष्टाचार बढ़ता है और इसका इलाज फौजी शासन है। हालांकि निरपवाद रूप से सारी फौजी तानाशाहियां बहुत ज्यादा भ्रष्ट रही हैं। बल्कि यह कहना चाहिए कि किसी भी किस्म की तानाशाही में भ्रष्टाचार पनपता है, चाहे वे दक्षिणपंथी हों या वामपंथी। पूर्व साम्यवादी देशों में और लातिन अमेरिका के अमेरिका परस्त फौजी तानाशाहियों के तंत्र में भारी भ्रष्टाचार रहा है। यह बहुत साफ है कि जिस व्यवस्था में कठोर सेंसरशिप हो और किसी बड़े आदमी का विरोध करने पर जेल या मृत्युदंड मिल सकता हो उसमें भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ आवाज उठाना सबसे खतरनाक हो सकता है।
लोकतंत्र में अभिव्यक्ति की आजादी होती है और लोगों को विरोध करने का हक होता है, इसलिए भ्रष्टाचार का शोर बहुत होता है, लेकिन भ्रष्टाचार घटाने की गुंजाइश भी होती है।
तमाम लोकतांत्रिक देश अपने यहां लोकतंत्र के विकास के दौर में एक ऐसी स्थिति से जरूर गुजरे हैं, जब वहां भ्रष्टाचार बहुत रहा है। लोकतंत्र के परिपक्व होते-होते लोग अपने हक के प्रति सचेत होते हैं और तब उन्हें यह महसूस होता है कि साफ-सुथरा और ईमानदार प्रशासन पाना उनका बुनियादी हक है। हम इस प्रक्रिया से अभी गुजर रहे हैं, जब आम नागरिकों को यह लग रहा है कि वे उस तरह के साफ-सुथरे प्रशासन के हकदार हैं, जैसा कई विकसित लोकतांत्रिक देशों में है। भ्रष्टाचार का इलाज किसी तरह की तानाशाही नहीं, बल्कि और ज्यादा लोकतंत्र है।
भ्रष्टाचार के बारे में एक और मिथक यह खासतौर पर समाजवादी रुझान के लोगों में लोकप्रिय है कि आर्थिक उदारीकरण से भ्रष्टाचार बढ़ा है। यह सही है कि उदारीकरण के बाद भ्रष्टाचार का आकार बढ़ा है लेकिन इसकी वजह यह है कि हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था का ही आकार तेजी से बढ़ा है। पिछले दस साल में हमारी अर्थव्यवस्था का आकार दुगना हो गया है, इतनी तेज रफ्तार से विकास में लुटेरों के हाथ भी ज्यादा लूट लग जाती है। इसके बावजूद तथ्य यह है कि हमारे देश में भारी भ्रष्टाचार की जड़ें नियंत्रित लाइसेंस परमिट वाले राज में थीं। जब हर कदम पर चार सरकारी विभागों से मंजूरी लेनी हो और मामूली घरेलू बिजली का कनेक्शन जैसे काम में दजर्न भर प्रक्रियाओं से गुजरना हो, तो हर कदम पर रिश्वत ही आसानी पैदा कर सकती है।
नियंत्रित अर्थव्यवस्था में चीजों की वास्तविक या कृत्रिम कमी होती है और ऐसे में काला बाजार और भ्रष्टाचार की अर्थव्यवस्था को बल मिलता है। 30-40 साल पहले कई लोगों ने स्कूटर या ट्रकों के कालाबाजार का धंधा खूब किया था। गैस और टेलीफोन कनेक्शन के ब्लैक का भी बाजार था। अब ये धंधे लगभग बंद हो गए। सरकारी प्रक्रियाओं में गड़बड़ी और भ्रष्टाचार रोकने के लिए एक और नया जांच का स्तर बना दिया जाता है और इस तरह भ्रष्टाचार का एक और ठिकाना बन जाता था। इसी के साथ अगर आयकर की दर 90 प्रतिशत तक हो तो कर बचाने में लोगों की दिलचस्पी जागेगी ही और काले पैसे की अर्थव्यवस्था मजबूत होती जाएगी। भ्रष्टाचार रोकने का उपाय ज्यादा कठोर सरकारी नियंत्रण नहीं है, सरकारी प्रक्रियाओं को सरल बनाना और अर्थव्यवस्था को उदार बनाना है। ज्यादा सरकारी नियंत्रण वाली व्यवस्थाएं अनिवार्य रूप से ज्यादा भ्रष्ट होती हैं।
सारी दुनिया में लोगों को राजनेताओं के भ्रष्टाचार पर चर्चा करने में दिलचस्पी होती है, लेकिन यह धारणा गलत है कि भ्रष्टाचार ऊपर से शुरू होता है, इसलिए उसका खात्मा भी ऊपर से ही होना चाहिए। 'जब नेता हजारों करोड़ डकार रहे हैं तो मैं बीस रुपये ज्यादा क्यों न लूं' यह ऑटो रिक्शा वाले का तर्क समाजवादी जरूर होगा लेकिन व्यावहारिक तौर पर गलत है। दुनिया के जिन देशों में भ्रष्टाचार लगभग न्यूनतम है, उन देशों में भी राजनैतिक भ्रष्टाचार खत्म नहीं हुआ है। जापान के आम नागरिक को रोजमर्रा के कामकाज में भ्रष्टाचार नहीं सहना पड़ता लेकिन वहां पिछले सालों में न जाने कितने प्रधानमंत्रियों को भ्रष्टाचार के आरोपों में इस्तीफा देना पड़ा, यहां तक कि स्वीडन और नार्वे जैसे लगभग आदर्श सार्वजनिक जीवन वाले देशों में भी राजनैतिक भ्रष्टाचार है।
वैसे भी आम आदमी को असली परेशानी बिजली, पानी, सड़क के सरकारी विभागों के भ्रष्टाचार से होती है, और यहां भ्रष्टाचार खत्म होना हमारे आपके लिए ज्यादा महत्वपूर्ण है। यह बात बराबरी के सिद्धांत के खिलाफ लग सकती है लेकिन व्यावहारिक और यथार्थपरक तो यही है। नेताओं के भ्रष्टाचार पर हम बिल्कुल विरोध प्रकट करें लेकिन क्या भारतीय मध्यमवर्ग को अपने गिरेबान में भी नहीं झांकना चाहिए। रिश्वत लेने वाले, बाबू, अफसर, इंजीनियर, डॉक्टर, शिक्षक सब हमारे आसपास के ही लोग तो हैं, आखिर हम इनके भ्रष्टाचार को नेताओं के भ्रष्टाचार के शोर में कब तक नजरअंदाज करते रहेंगे।
http://www.livehindustan.com/news/editorial/guestcolumn/article1-story-57-62-276952.html
भाजपा नेताओं पर लगे भ्रष्टाचार के आरोपों के लिए पार्टी पर निशाना साधते हुए कांग्रेस महासचिव राहुल गांधी ने आज विपक्षी पार्टी से पूछा कि उसने इस तरह के आरोपों का सामना कर रहे अपने नेताओं के खिलाफ क्या कार्रवाई की।
भाजपा अध्यक्ष नितिन गडकरी का परोक्ष तौर पर उल्लेख करते हुए गांधी ने कहा, 'जहां भी भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप लगे हमने कार्रवाई की। उनके नेताओं के खिलाफ भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप लगे तो क्या उन्होंने कोई कार्रवाई की। उन्होंने एक भी शब्द कहा।' एक रैली को यहां संबोधित करते हुए गांधी ने लोगों को याद दिलाया कि कांग्रेस ही आरटीआई लाई और यह भाजपा है जिसने राज्यसभा में लोकपाल विधेयक के पारित होने में बाधा पहुंचाई। उन्होंने एफडीआई के भाजपा के विरोध को भी खारिज कर दिया। उन्होंने उसपर गलत सूचना फैलाने का आरोप लगाया। गांधी ने कहा कि एफडीआई किसानों के लाभ के लिए है।
गांधी ने कहा, 'जब भाजपा नीत राजग की सरकार दिल्ली में थी तो वे एफडीआई के खिलाफ नहीं थे। अब जब हम इसे ला रहे हैं तो वे सिर्फ इसलिए इसका विरोध कर रहे हैं क्योंकि ऐसा कांग्रेस कर रही है।' गांधी ने कहा, 'विपक्ष कहेगा कि मनरेगा गलत है। किसानों की कर्ज माफी गलत है, सर्वशिक्षा अभियान गलत है और एफडीआई गलत है क्योंकि इसे कांग्रेस कर रही है।' उन्होंने राज्य में भूमि आवंटन के मुद्दे पर भाजपा की आलोचना की। गांधी ने कहा कि लोग शिकायत करते हैं कि उनकी भूमि मनमाने तरीके से बाहरी लोगों को बेच दी गई।
गांधी ने इस अवसर का इस्तेमाल युवाओं से राजनीति में आने और इसे बदलने का आह्वान करने के लिए भी किया। गौरतलब है कि गांधी जल्द ही पार्टी मामलों में बड़ी भूमिका निभाने वाले हैं। गांधी ने कहा, 'जब तक आप व्यवस्था से बाहर रहेंगे, जब तक नई पीढ़ी राजनीति में नहीं आएगी, यह व्यवस्था नहीं बदल सकती। मैं नए लोगों, युवकों और खासतौर पर महिलाओं को राजनीति में लाना चाहता हूं। जिन राज्यों में महिलाएं राजनीति में आईं और सचेत थीं उनका विकास तेजी से हुआ।'
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Who would cancel all those contracts of natural resources to India incs and MNCs, Mr Kejriwal?Whatever may be the growth rate or fiscal deficit, the growth rate of corporate India is amazing!As the political power lies within right there.
Who would cancel all those contracts of natural resources to India incs and MNCs, Mr Kejriwal?Whatever may be the growth rate or fiscal deficit, the growth rate of corporate India is amazing!As the political power lies within right there.
Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time, Chapter: Nine Hundred nineteen
Palash Biswas
Mobile: 919903717833
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Who would cancel all those contracts of natural resources to India incs and MNCs, Mr Kejriwal?
"The time has come for the people of this country to reclaim their resources. This kind of crony capitalism cannot be allowed in this country. It has eaten into the country's resources like a Frankenstein monster." Kejriwal said. We do agree with you Mr. Kejriwal. Then just tell us, what is the way out? The constitution and Parliamnetary system made standstill, masses have no information rather they are misinformed.Production system destroyed and the class of producers is subjected to genocide without any resistance. What do we gain from the exposure of known truth unless we consolidate rock solid unity of Indian people divided in caste, religion, ethnicities, languages, regions, fighting against one another and allowing the continuity of corrupt corporate governance. Elections would not change the situation as the alternative most possible is equally corrupt and governed by corporate India and MNCs.Just see, Arvind Kejriwal today came under attack from both the BJP and the Congress with the Opposition party charging his NGO with having dubious foreign funding while the ruling party dubbed the activist and his team as "frontmen" of anti-Congress forces.
"Mukesh Ambani is running the country it seems... Jaipal Reddy was removed as he refused to hike the charges being levied by Reliance Industries to supply gas to NTPC," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
Kejriwal accused Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani of influencing Congress party's decisions.
The activist played out what he claimed were portions of tapes of lobbyist Niira Radia's conversations. The conversation makes it clear that Ambani had powerful influence over the Congress and the BJP, he claimed. "In the Nira Radia tapes, Ranjan Bhattacharya (former prime minister A B Vajpayee's son-in-law) is heard telling Niira that Mukesh Ambani told him 'Congress to ab apni dukaan hai."
"BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in 2000. Congress faithfully implemented it."
A press release from IAC alleged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had succumbed before corporate interests. "The PM was very sympathetic to RIL. PM requested Ministry of Petroleum to seek AG's opinion on whether gas prices could be increased midway as demanded by Reliance. It is strange why did the PM not show similar concern when NTPC was forced to accept higher gas price from RIL? Why is the PM not pulling up Reliance for not producing 80 mmscmd gas as per their commitment? Why did the PM not seek legal opinion when country¡¦s interests were at stake? Why is PM showing so much interest when RIL interests are at stake?"
It also says: "This episode explains the real reasons for price rise in the country. The government seems to be succumbing to illegitimate demands of some powerful corporates in the country (like RIL in this case). Benefits provided to RIL in this case contributed to price rise in power and fertilizer sectors. Similarly, on one hand, government says that they do not have Rs. 35,000 crores to provide LPG subsidy to the people, on the other hand, the government bends backwards to provide benefits to these corporate."
Kejriwal demands the cancellation of all the contracts on natural resources to Reliance.India Against Corruption on Wednesday brought Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani in its line of fire alleging that the UPA and the previous NDA governments had favoured his company by giving contract on gas exploration in KG Basin and concessions at a huge cost to the exchequer. The nexus between politicians and industrialists was the main reason behind rising prices in India, India Against Corruption activist Arivind Kejriwal said on Wednesday.What is new in an exposure so hyped? It is the ultimate truth of Indian Economy and Polity based on exclusion and excommunication. So what if in their latest exposé, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan of IAC targetted both BJP's Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA as well as the Congress-led UPA for 'selling out the interests of the common man to corporates'. ONGC is a public sector company which explored oilfields in India with its resources and manpower. In return the government of India gifted away those oil blocks to private companies and trying hard to sell out ONGC. Indian media , civil society and media overlooked these developments right from the beginning. The magical rise of India incorporation is not a latest phenomenon at all. Neither it just happened after neoliberal turnaround. It is a continuous phenomenon since transfer of power.Neoliberal policies rather helped other minor parties to gain and shape up the India Incs to hijack governance, policy making and legislation to multiply the profit and expansion thousand times at the cost of Indian people and Indian nation.Open market economy set the ground of monopolistic aggression against Indian People just to plunder natural resources abundant.
The oil ministry postponed Wednesday's scheduled meeting for India's official auditor to begin audit of Reliance Industries' (RIL) KG-D6 oil and gas producing block.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had called an Entry Conference for Wednesday with RIL and the oil ministry to begin its second round of audit that is to cover RIL's spending on KG-D6 gas fields during 2008-09 to 2011-12.
Official sources told IANS that the meeting was called off by the ministry earlier this week.
The IAC played out an audio tape purportedly of talks between lobbyist Niira Radia and former PM A B Vajpayee's foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya.
In the tapes, Radia and Bhattacharya were heard talking about the composition of the Union ministry.
Kejriawal said that both Congress and BJP were helpless against Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. In 2000, the NDA had favoured Mukesh Ambani's Reliance in gas pricing, Kejriwal said.
Calling it a "classic case of crony capitalism", activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan alleged that Reliance was "blackmailing" the government to increase the price of gas by "almost stopping" the production and indulging in "hoarding like petty traders".
Attacking the decision to shift S Jaipal Reddy from petroleum ministry, they alleged it was now "absolutely crystal clear" that he was eased out of the crucial ministry only on account of "pressure" from Reliance Industries.They said Reddy was "honest" and his "ouster" was only because he "actively resisted" Reliance' demand for an increase in the price of gas and wanted to penalise the company for "wilful reduction" of production of gas.
He asked why did Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not seek the opinion of the Attorney General when the then petroleum minister Manishankar Aiyar "refused to give in" to Reliance' demand for increasing the price of gas from $2.34 per unit to $4.2 per unit in 2006.
"In 2006, Aiyar was removed and Murli Deora was brought in and he cleared the files within one and half months. Why does he seek the opinion of Attorney General now? Why does his heart beats only for Reliance?" Kejriwal said.
New petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily refused to react to the allegations.
Kejriwal said it is always said that the Prime Minister is not involved in corruption but he comes under the purview of Prevention of Corruption Act for certain decisions taken by his government in various matters like 2G and coal block allocations.
After "exposing" Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and BJP president Nitin Gadkari, speculation was rife throughout the day on Wednesday over the anti-graft body's next target.
Kejriwal and Bhushan had hit a high with their attack on the Haryana government for allegedly winking at DLF offering sweetheart deals to Vadra.
Reliance industries on Wednesday hit back at India Against Corruption Activist Arvind Kejriwal for his claims that Mukesh Ambani was controlling the government,. In its statement issued, Reliance said that statements made by IAC were devoid of any truth.
Reliance said that the KG D6 basin has best technology and that the project has added great economic value to the country.
"Allegations made by IAC are at the behest of vested interests," it said.
Indian finance minister and the corporate set of policy makers seem to be too stressed to enhance the growth rate and RBI is under tremendous pressure to formulate monetary policies to boost market. Whatever may be the growth rate or fiscal deficit, the growth rate of corporate Indian is amazing!As the poiltical powerlies within right there.It is quite an unfamiliar development that the Reserve Bank of India left interest rates on hold on Tuesday but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks, defying pressure from the government to lower rates for the first time since April but also indicating it may soon ease policy further. While the decision to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 8.00 percent was in line with forecasts, expectations for a rate cut had grown after India's finance minister on Monday outlined a plan to trim the country's hefty fiscal deficit. RBI stood by its tough anti-inflation rhetoric by opting not to lower the key policy rate though preferred to trim the CRR as a step to lower funding costs and possible compromise. A rate cut in the face of jump in September WPI, sharp upward revision to historical numbers and recent rebound in the proxy core inflation measure, might have put the bank's inflation-fighting credibility at risk. Apparently not enthused by the RBI's cautious stance, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that growth is as much a challenge as containing inflation and government would "walk alone" to face the challenge if it comes to that.
Reliance Industries, the country's largest listed company, and its chairman Mukesh Ambani came under the attack of India Against Corruption (IAC) activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan today for allegedly "threatening the democratic structure of the country" by influencing appointment of ministers at will. Even the prime minister is powerless in front of the explorer's might, the activists said in a crowded press conference at the Constitution Club here.Kejriwal, who started the proceedings in Hindi, alleged that Jaipal Reddy, who was the Union minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas till last week, was removed because he opposed a Reliance proposal to rise the price of the gas by over three times to $14.2 per mmBTU (million metric British thermal unit).
People should prevent this Government from granting a $14.25 per unit price to RIL by sending RTI applications to the new Petroleium Minister Veerappa Moily, the activist said.
"RIL has the contract to extract oil from KG (Krishna-Godavari) basin. Under an agreement of 2009 with the government, they are supposed to sell gas at $4.2 per mmBTU up to 31st March 2014. Midway now, RIL is demanding that the price be increased to $14.2 per mmBTU. Jaipal Reddy resisted that and he was thrown out," Kejriwal said.
They added that Reddy was not the first to lose his job for taking on Reliance citing the instance of Murli Deora replacing Mani Shankar Aiyer in 2006. Aiyer, according to them, had resisted a RIL move to increase capital expenditure in the basin, which the activists said, reduced the government's profits and enriched Reliance's coffers.
Bhushan called for cancellation of all contracts awarded to Reliance be cancelled. "Consequences otherwise are horrendous. These crony capitalists are threat to our democracy itself," he said.
According to IAC, if the hike in gas prices was allowed, it would result in a substantial increase in the cost of power for end consumers. "Today, power from gas based power plant costs around Rs 3 per KWH (kilowatt hour). If gas price is increased as demanded by Reliance power prices would go up to Rs 7 per KWH," the activists said in a statement. Such escalation in prices could make most of these gas based plant unviable and would have to be shut down, the statement added.
Another key allegation was "goldplating" of capital expenditure of which the comptroller and auditor general said that there is strong evidence. The Initial Development Plan submitted by RIL in 2004 said it would produce 40 mmscmd for an investment of $ 2.39 billion. In two years RIL submitted another plan saying it would produce double gas for an investment of $ 8.8 billion. "Doesn't that sound strange? To double production, you increase your investment by four times? Having put the initial infrastructure in place, it should have cost lesser to create additional production capacity.'' Kejriwal asked.
In response, Reliance Industries said, "The statements made by IAC in the press conference today are devoid of any truth or substance whatsoever and are denied."
The statement added that the deep water exploration project in the KG-D6 basin "has deployed the best technical resources and has been recognized by the oil and gas industry as one of the very best in its class. This project has added great economic value to the country and by all accounts is a project of which India can be justly proud."
The apple of Ratan Tata's eyes, Tata Motors may be struggling under extreme competition from the likes of Anand Mahindra-led Mahindra & Mahindra, but today its he (probably), along with shareholders were pleasantly surprised by some good news from a global investment banking and securities firm.
* Goldman Sachs says the auto maker's market capitalisation has potential to reach $30 billion by fiscal 2017, from current value of $13.8 billion, and to nearly double its cash flow during these four years.
* To get there, Goldman says Tata's Jaguar Land Rover unit would need to move to a new platform for its existing models such as Range Rover and Discovery with a light weight aluminium architecture, thus improving key factors such as fuel efficiency or pricing.
* JLR would also need to make inroads into smaller engine and lower priced vehicles, as well as enter more premium segments, Goldman argues.
* However, challenges include getting consumers to buy into the brand, tightening regulations in key markets such as Europe, and overcoming macro economic uncertainties such as FX volatility.
* Goldman Sachs maintains Tata Motors at 'buy', with a target price at 334 rupees.
Tata Motors shares gain 1.4 percent after this news hit the markets.
"Growth is as much a challenge as inflation. If government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, then we will walk alone," the finance minister of India, P Chidambaram said in his reaction to the RBI's second quarter policy review.
Mind you,Arvind Kejriwal's press conference today, in which he targeted Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, is one more signal that politics and business cannot continue on the old assumptions: that it is something that should be done behind closed doors. Or that the public need no concern itself with these details.First post reports.
Thanks to a procession of scams – from 2G to CWG to Coalgate, Vadragate and Nitin Gadkari's Purti capers – the credibility of politicians has never been lower. What Kejriwal did today was to link politicians to businessmen – you cannot have political corruption without a corporate side to it. And who better to tell this story with than India's biggest businessman – Mukesh Ambani.
The businessman-politician linkage has been the elephant in the bedroom, and Kejriwal brought this out clearly, even though it is difficult to prove the nexus except through circumstantial evidence.
While it served Kejriwal's purpose to paint both the Congress and the BJP with the same brush – which creates the space for his own political ambitions – the critical point is this: business cannot henceforth be done non-transparently.
Arvind Kejriwal's press conference today saw him target Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost
However, Kejriwal pushed the envelope too far when he tried to link broader ideological and macroeconomic issues with corruption and profiteering. He also took a giant leap from Reliance's gas pricing lobbying to increases in power tariffs – another battle he is waging in Delhi.
Some of the ideological positions he staked out are also problematic. For example he and Prashant Bhushan are on record to say that natural resources should be auctioned. This was the entire basis for calling Coalgate a scam – even though favourtism to some of those allocated coal blocks for free is another angle that could be truly scandalous.
But the purpose of giving blocks for free was to keep power tariffs low. If coal blocks are given at market prices, power prices would rise. This does square with Kejriwal's argument that power prices should be cut when coal blocks should be given out at market prices to mine developers.
He also missed out on economic points. It makes no sense to import gas at $14 and then deny the same price to domestic producers. This is exactly what is happening with ONGC. We import at $110, and give ONGC less than half that price. The net result is ONGC does not have enough resources to take up exploration and bring down our import dependence.
Kejriwal deserves kudos for bringing out the issue of a cosy relationship between politicians and businessmen, but the need is for transparency on government and corporate processes. The economics of selling coal or gas at less than market prices has its own costs.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/kejriwal-breaks-the-silence-on-business-politics-links-510031.html
"Who is being exposed today is the question that IAC has been asked repeatedly since morning," said Prashant Bhushan.
Bhushan said no one individual but the 'entire rotten system' would be exposed by India Against Corruption (IAC).
"The working of the Indian political and business system has been entirely subverted and corrupted. The tentacles of this crony capitalist system has entered every facet of Indian society at the top of which Reliance is the leading representative," Bhushan said.
Loot from such corruption has given corporates like these overarching power over the Indian government, he said.
Kejriwal went on to add that the target of today's press meet was Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.
Hurt by Kejriwal's allegations against party chief Nitin Gadkari, the BJP said they were at the behest of those who are funding him from abroad, a charge rejected by the social activist.
The editorial of the latest edition of Congress mouthpiece Congress Sandesh, as also BJP journal Kamal Sandesh, projected Kejriwal in poor light.
Kamal Sandesh said he has taken a "supari (contract)" from foreign sources and demanded that the Manmohan Singh government investigate the matter.
"After ruining the Anna Andolan and in pursuit of its naked ambition, Team Kejriwal is involved in a conspiracy to create suspicion about 'democracy' and by doing so it is definitely playing into the hands of those who have no attachment either to India or Bharat Mata," the article said.
Kejriwal had recently alleged that Gadkari's Purti Group has bought farmers' land at cheap rates from the government and also got irrigation water from the dam in Gosikhurd area of Vidarbha diverted to his sugar factory.
"The main game of Kejriwal may be related to funding. The thing to be known is whether the funds belong to India or to the forces which want to weaken the country," the publication said.
"One who could not remain loyal to Anna, how can he be loyal to the nation? He is engaged in digging holes in democracy with the help of foreign funds," it said.
Kejriwal has refuted these allegations and asked the BJP to come clean on its funding in the last ten years.
Arvind Kejriwal's press conference on Wednesday saw a minor interruption when a man from the audience alleged that the anti-corruption activist and his India Against Corruption group were "fooling the country".
As Kejriwal was addressing the media, alleging a nexus between politicians and industrialists, a man from the audience got up and loudly demanded to know why Kejriwal and his wife, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, never got transferred for 30 years. Kejriwal is a former IRS officer.
"I want to ask why you and your wife were never transferred out of Delhi," he asked.
The man, who did not identify himself but kept insisting that he was "alone" and not backed by anyone, was immediately surrounded by Kejriwal's supporters.
The man then shouted out loudly that "Kejriwal and company are fooling the country".
Some of his supporters started shouting anti-Kejriwal slogans. They were promptly evicted by IAC supporters.
Kejriwal, resuming his speech, said the interruption was "deliberate and planned".
Here are the highlights/quotes of the meet, including the scuffle:
* IAC targets 'scam' behind price hike: Kejriwal says, "Industrialist-politician nexus behind inflation, which has impoverished India."
* On tapes: AB Vajpayee kin Ranjan Bhattacharaya talks to Niira Radia on DMK-Bhattacharya asks Radia whom in DMK does she want in Cabinet.
* Vajpayee gave KG Basin contract to Mukesh Ambani
* Reliance got 45,000cr windfall gains
*Present government not being run by Manmohan Singh but by Mukesh Ambani
* Reliance held govt to ransom demanding higher gas price and when Jaipal Reddy demurred he was unceremoniously removed from ministership.
* Reliance started hoarding gas like 'Tuchcha dalals' creating artificial scarcity in India.
* Reliance wanted to set the price of gas and not govt - UPA fell in line.
* Mulri Deora favoured Reliance too
* Pranab Mukherjee gave Rs 10,000 cr windfall gains to Reliance
* Why did government favour Reliance?
* Reliance 'dadagiri' hit gas production in India.
* Mani Shanker Iyer was removed to serve the vested interests of the politicians.
*Chaos at Kejriwal presser as IAC men rough-up bystander for asking anti-Arvind question.
* Why transfer of Kejriwal and wife did not happen for 20 years asks bystander.
Kejriwal restores orders says, will answer that question but digresses.
*Man thrown out for asking Kejriwal personal question.
* Bhushan says people of the country must reclaim their rights and ensure that their interests are not subverted.
Arvind Kejriwal says, he does not expect govt to do any thing about IAC exposé.
The people of India must ensure they throw out both Congress BJP from power and reclaim their Constitutional rights.
Read full IAC report:
Kya Congress Mukesh Ambani ki dukaan hai?
* In 2006, Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and Murli Deora brought in to increase RIL capex from $ 2.39 billion to $ 8.8 billion and to increase gas price from $2.34 per mmBTU to $ 4.2 per mmBTU.
*In 2012, Jaipal Reddy has been removed and Moily brought in to increase gas prices from $ 4.2 per mmBTU to $ 14.2 mmBTU and to condone RIL's blackmailing of reducing gas production.
* Huge benefits given to RIL in last one decade despite flagrant violations of various agreements by RIL. Benefits to RIL causing serious price rise in the country.
* Both BJP and Congress involved. BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in 2000. Congress faithfully implemented it.
* If RIL demand of increasing the gas price to $ 14.2 is accepted, it would lead to shut down of several gas based power plants and increase in power and fertilizer prices. It would result in Rs 43,000 crores of additional benefits to RIL.
In the Nira Radia tapes, Ranjan Bhattacharya (Vajpayee's son in law) is heard telling Nira that Mukesh Ambani told him –"Congress to ab apni dukaan hai." Facts below show that both Congress and BJP are in his pocket.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has the contract to extract oil from KG Basin. Under an agreement of 2009 with the government, they are supposed to sell gas at $ 4.2 per mmBTU upto 31st March 2014. Midway now, RIL is demanding that the price be increased to $ 14.2 per mmBTU. Jaipal Reddy resisted that and he was thrown out.
Jaipal Reddy had prepared a note for EGOM, in which he mentioned that acceptance of RIL's demand would mean an additional profit of Rs43,000 crores ($8.5 billion) to RIL(in 2 years) at current levels of low production. Most of this gas is used in fertilizer and power production. Increasing gas price would mean an additional financial burden of Rs 53,000Crores ($ 10.5 billion) on central and state government (copy of relevant page of EGOM note is attached as annexure 1). This would in turn mean higher electricity and fertilizer prices in the country or a higher subsidy burden.
In order to pressurize the government, RIL substantially reduced its production of natural gas. Total consumption of natural gas in the country is 156 mmscmd. According to agreement, RIL was supposed to produce 80mmscmd (more than 50% of the total demand) from 2009. However, they are producing just 27 mmscmd, almost a third of their commitment. Production has been artificially kept low to blackmail the government. They are not just hoarding the gas, but also forcing various consumers to buy gas from abroad. Gas from abroad costs around $ 13 per mmBTU.
RIL's stand is simple – "hum to gas $14.2 par hi denge, lena hai to lo, nahin to jao." Who does this gas belong to? According to Supreme Court of India and the Indian Constitution, this gas belongs to thepeople of India. Complete surrender of UPA before RIL indicates UPA's inability to run governance in accordance with the Constitution.
Drastic reduction in production has forced many gas based power plants in the country to shut down or run at much lower capacity. According to media reports, almost 9000 MW of gas based power plants are lying idle
. Today, power from gas based power plant costs around Rs 3 per KWH. If gas price is increased from $ 4.2 to $ 14.2 as demanded by Reliance, power rates would go upto Rs 7 per KWH. That's too expensive. At that cost, most of these plants would have to permanently shut down.
This is not the first time that a union minister has been eased out at Mukesh Ambani's insistence. In 2006, when RIL had to get its capex increased from $ 2.39 billion dollars to $ 8.8 billion dollars, Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and a more Reliance friendly MurliDeora was brought in.
Brief history:
RIL got this contract during NDA regime in the year 2000. The contract was meant to favor RIL right from the beginning. In any business, increase in costs means decrease in profits. However, the NDA government , signed a contract dictated by RIL wherein an increase in cost by one rupee meant additional profits of RIL by almost Rs 2.2. Isn't it strange? A parameter called Investment Multiple has been defined in the contract as under:
Investment Multiple (IM) = Total Revenue / Total Investment
According to the contract, till IM is below 1.5, RIL takes away more than 80% of profits and government gets less than 20% of profits. It is only when IM becomes more than 2.5 that government gets 85%. This means, RIL has a huge incentive to keep IM below 1.5 by increasing the expenditure artificially. Thus if Reliance were to increase expenditure from 1 Billion to 2 Billion on a revenue of 5 billion, their own net income would go up from 1.6 Billion to 3.5 Billion. This is what the CAG has stated in para 8.1 of its performance Audit of Hydrocarbon PSCs. (extract from executive summary of CAG as annexure 2)
In 2004, RIL submitted an Initial Development Plan (IDP) saying they would produce 40 mmscmd for an investment of $ 2.39 billion. All this happened when Ram Naik was the petroleum minister in Vajpayee regime.
Within 2 years, RIL submitted another plan saying they would produce 80 mmscmd for an increased investment of $ 8.8 billion. Doesn't that sound strange? To double production, you increase your investment by four times? Having put the initial infrastructure in place, it should have cost lesser to create additional production capacity.
Mani Shankar Iyer, who was the then Petroleum minister, would not have allowed this. So, Mani was shunted out of petroleum ministry and Murli Deora, famous to be Reliance man, was brought in January 2006. Despite strong protests by some MPs like Tapan Sen, Deora approved $ 8.8 billion expenditure. By allowing $ 8.8 billion expenditure, in effect, Deora allowed a future revenue of over Rs 1 lakh crores ($ 20 billion dollars) for RIL.
CAG has remarked that there is strong evidence that RIL is gold plating its capital expenditure. Expenditure has been artificially increased (for reasons mentioned above). For instance, RIL is required to place orders for its plant, machinery and other requirements through international competitive bids. CAG alleges that bids were arbitrarily rejected to favor some parties. Just one company namely Aker group got many contracts (see annexure 3, which is an extract from CAG report). Is this group related to RIL? Is RIL siphoning off money through this method?
RIL's pressure tactics:
RIL signed a contract with NTPC in 2004 to supply gas for its power plants at $ 2.34 per mmBTU for 17 years. It signed a similar contract with RNRL to supply gas at $ 2.34 per mmBTU. However, RIL went back on its word. Under RIL's pressure, EGOM headed by Sh Pranab Mukherjee, revised gas price in September 2007 to $ 4.2 per mmBTU. NTPC and RNRL were forced to accept gas from RIL at revised price. By doing this, Pranab Mukherjee headed EGOM gave an undue benefit of Rs8000 crores to RIL.
What is RIL's actual cost of production?
Cost of production is much less than $ 2.34 per mmBTU. (Copy of extracts from an SC order Annexure 4).RIL had actually signed long term agreements with NTPC and RNRL for supplying gas at that rate for 17 years. This means that at $2.34 per mmBTU also, RIL was making adequate profits. India is getting gas at $ 0.9 per mmBTU from Oman. Gas rates in Canada are at $ 1.74 per mmBTU. This means that at $ 2.34 per mmBTU also, RIL was making huge profits.
RIL sold out nation's resources:
Ownership rights of this gas belong to the people of India. RIL is just a contractor hired by GOI to extract gas. Strangely, RIL sold 30% stake in 21 of 29 oil blocks to British Petroleum in July 2011 at $ 7.2 billion. Government gave approval to RIL to do that. How can they do that? It is almost like – I hire a driver to drive my car and that driver sells off my car after a few days.
Performance of RIL so far has been much worse than perhaps the worst performing government department.
1. 4 times cost escalation within 2 years from $ 2.39 billion in 2004 to $ 8.8 billion in 2006.
2. Increase in gas price from $ 2.34 per mmBTU in 2004 to $ 4.2 per mmBTU in 2007 to the present demand of $ 14.2 per mmBTU.
3. Capacity created for producing 80 mmscmd after incurring such a huge cost ends up producing just 27 mmscmd after 12 years.
4. 31 oil wells should have been in production till now. Out of them, just 13 are functional.
Has any government department fared as badly? If this had happened in any government department, it would have been ripped apart by all government agencies and media.
RIL scam akin to coal scam:
This scam is on similar lines as Coal block allocation scam. Coal blocks were given away saying that coal production was less in the country and private sector participation would increase coal production. Rather than produce coal, the private parties hoarded coal blocks to sell them at appropriate time in future.
In this case also, oil blocks were given away to RIL on the excuse that oil and gas production in the country was less and private sector participation would bring "efficiency". Rather than the production going up, RIL is hoarding the gas.
Role of PM:
RIL's request for increase in gas prices was turned down by Ministry of Petroleum under Jaipal Reddy and EGOM several times in the last 2 years. EGOM had fixed $ 4.2 per mmBTU price for RIL upto 31.3.2014. When Jaipal Reddy did not budge, RIL approached the PM. PM was very sympathetic to RIL. PM requested Ministry of Petroleum to seek AG's opinion on whether gas prices could be increased midway as demanded by Reliance. It is strange why did the PM not show similar concern when NTPC was forced to accept higher gas price from RIL? Why is the PM not pulling up Reliance for not producing 80 mmscmd gas as per their commitment? Why did the PM not seek legal opinion when country's interests were at stake? Why is PM showing so much interest when RIL interests are at stake?
Notice to RIL by Jaipal Reddy:
When RIL failed to meet its production targets, Jaipal Reddy decided to disallow their capital expenditure. In the first instance, a notice for disallowance of $ 1 billion expenditure was sent to RIL (Annex 5). This would mean a loss of $2.2 (11,000 Crores) billion to RIL, if we consider IM ratio. Next year, this disallowance could be $ 1.5 billion, which would mean a loss of $ 3.3 billion (16,500 Crores) for RIL.
That is the reason why Mukesh Ambani got restless. And that is the reason why Jaipal Reddy was transferred out.
Real reasons for price rise in the country:
This episode explains the real reasons for price rise in the country. The government seems to be succumbing to illegitimate demands of some powerful corporates in the country (like RIL in this case). Benefits provided to RIL in this case contributed to price rise in power and fertilizer sectors. Similarly, on one hand, government says that they do not have Rs 35,000 crores to provide LPG subsidy to the people, on the other hand, the government bends backwards to provide benefits to these corporate.
Questions:
1. Who is running the government? It appears that telecom companies select their own nominee as Telecom minister and RIL selects its own person as Petroleum minister.
2. So, is this government being run by powerful corporates?
3. Is Dr Manmohan Singh succumbing to corporates under some compulsions or out of ignorance? What are the compulsions, if any?
We demand:
RIL blackmailing should be immediately stopped. Their KG Basin contract should be cancelled. Government should immediately put in place adequate systems to get full production from KG Basin at cheapest prices for the country.
Chidambaram was apparently upset over RBI's decision to leave interest rates unchanged on inflation concerns despite the government unveiling a five-year fiscal consolidation road map ahead of the policy.
Although the RBI has lowered the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), the portion of deposit banks have to park with the apex bank, by 0.25 per cent, it did not cut interest rates in view on persistent inflationary pressures.
WPI inflation stood at 7.81 per cent in September, much above the RBI's comfort level of 4-4.5 per cent.
"Government is doing its best to send the clear message that we are on the path of fiscal consolidation. It is my hope that everyone will read and understand the government commitment to path of fiscal consolidation," Chidambaram said.
On the policy statement, he quipped: "I have not read the last few paragraphs of the statement but if it holds out hope for the future I look forward to that future".
He was apparently referring to the RBI's policy guidance of a likelihood of policy easing in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal.
Chidambaram further said: "Sometimes it is best to speak, sometimes it is best to remain silent. This is the time for silence".
After FM, Montek rains brickbats on RBI
Terming the decision of RBI to cut CRR a step in the right direction, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the need to push growth should take precedence over combating inflation.
"I can see that the RBI remains concerned about inflation. I think we need to watch what happens in inflation but probably the need to push the growth at this moment is little higher on agenda than the concern about inflation," Ahluwalia told reporters here.
Showing concerns over hardening inflation, the Reserve Bank today left the key interest rate unchanged but reduced cash reserve ratio by 0.25 per cent to inject Rs 17,500 crore liquidity into the financial system.
CRR or the portion of deposits banks have to park with the RBI now stands at 4.25 per cent while the repo rate, at which RBI lends to the system, has been retained at 8 per cent.
Ahluwalia said, "It was expected that they (RBI) would move in the direction that would be supportive of revival of growth. I do think that the reduction in the CRR is a step in that direction. Hopefully it would moderate pressure on the interest rates."
About RBI not doing enough to push growth, he said, "We have to push for growth anyway. Monetary policy is very important aspect of the growth push, but most of what need to be done for growth, has to be done by the government and weare going to do it."
He is of the view that CRR cut would have stronger impact on interest rate than simply adjusting the repo rate because bank does not lend freely at the repo rate and it does not play the role which FED fund rate do in the US.
On fiscal consolidation road map chalked out by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, he said, "We are determined to bring the fiscal deficit down."
On whether monetary policy is in sync with fiscal policy, he said, "...enough has been done to indicate a start in other policies like fiscal consolidation, reforms and moving big projects... the direction that monetary should move is quite clearly to be supportive of that."
About the lowering of growth projection for this fiscal to 5.8 per cent this fiscal from earlier estimates of 6.5 per cent, he said, "If we do 5.8 per cent GDP growth this fiscal that would actually imply very significant improvement over the results that we have got for the first quarter."
"I think that the growth in the second quarter would be similar to first quarter. If we do 5.5 in the first six months, can we do better in next half. I think we can.
Therefore 5.8 per cent is not broadly off the mark," he added.
As inflation eases further, there will be an opportunity for monetary policy to act in conjunction with fiscal and other measures to mitigate the growth risks and take the economy to a sustained higher growth trajectory, RBI Governor D Subbarao wrote in his quarterly policy review.
Headline wholesale price index inflation rose to 7.8 per cent in September, a 10-month peak, and the RBI said it expects inflation to rise before easing in the final quarter of the fiscal year, which ends in March.
While risks to this trajectory remain, the baseline scenario suggests a reasonable likelihood of further policy easing in the fourth quarter of 2012-13, Subbarao wrote.
The market had been positioned for a rate cut, said A Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.
There's a positive that RBI has said there's a likelihood of easing in the Jan-March quarter. Looks like RBI wants inflation to peak out before cutting rates so we shouldn't expect anything in December. We expect a 50 basis points cut during Jan-March, he said.
India's 10-year bond yield rose around 4 basis points, while the rupee and stocks weakened.
Investors, companies and the government have been clamouring for a cut to interest rates that have been on hold since April and remain some of the highest among major economies.
A rate cut in the face of jump in September WPI, sharp upward revision to historical numbers and recent rebound in the proxy core inflation measure, might have put the bank's inflation-fighting credibility at risk, said Radhika Rao, an economist at Forecast Pte in Singapore.
While economic growth in India has been slowing, inflation has not, and the central bank has been calling on the government to follow through quickly on recent steps to cut its deficit and encourage investment, and to take further such measures.
Recent policy announcements by the government, which have positively impacted sentiment, need to be translated into effective action to convert sentiment into concrete investment decisions, Subbarao wrote.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday outlined a plan to nearly halve the deficit in just over four years. While he gave few specifics, his announcement at a hastily called news conference was seen as adding pressure on the RBI to cut rates.
New Delhi has unveiled a spate of reforms to bolster investment and rein in its fiscal deficit, including raising the price of subsidised diesel and lifting caps on foreign investment in several industries.
The RBI cut its GDP growth forecast for Asia's third-largest economy to 5.8 per cent for the current fiscal year, from 6.5 per cent previously, and increased its projection for headline inflation in March to 7.5 percent, from 7 percent earlier.
The central bank lowered the cash reserve ratio, the amount of deposits that banks must keep with the central bank, by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent, a move it said would inject about 175 billion rupees into the banking system in order to preempt potentially tightening liquidity.
In a poll earlier this month, economists had been nearly evenly split on whether or not the RBI would lower CRR.
Majority said they do not see any political threat to the government and expect it to complete its full term.
Rather, the pace of reforms as witnessed in the last two months will continue for at least next six months, it said.
The vast majority of the respondents said that "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to hold his ground and not yield to the pressure to roll back reforms".
It also said one or two big ticket multi-billion infrastructure projects should now take off and demand should return to the consumer durables.
Among other reform decisions, the government has approved foreign investment in pension funds and power exchanges.
"The areas still showing concern are exports, especially in the merchandise segments. The demand slowdown and recession in some European economies are impacting the shipments," it said, adding that exports for the year would fall below the target of $360 billion.
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Even as the BSE Sensex has risen about eight per cent since September 6, a day before the current rally began, or about 21 per cent year-to-date, all is not lost.
If one considers the market capitalisation to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which is frequently used by many large investors to gauge the valuation of a market and understand its possible direction, India's current capitalisation is about 64 per cent of the country's estimated GDP for 2012-13.
This is a little more than its 13-year average of 62 per cent, but about 40 per cent lower than its peak in 2008. This indicates valuations are still low.
During the market rally in 2008, the ratio rose to about 103 per cent. Experts suggest whenever the ratio crosses 100 per cent, once should be cautious.
After Indian markets crashed following the 2008 peak, the ratio dropped to about 55 per cent in 2008-09. Since 2009, though the economy has grown and global uncertainties have partially eased, markets are still trading near long-period averages.
In fact, after the 2008-09 global economic crisis, though India Inc's earnings have improved, valuations remain low.
The combined earnings per share of the 30 Sensex companies has risen from Rs 833 for 2007-08 to Rs 1,125 for 2011-12, a rise of 35 per cent. But the valuations are near the historical average, and this is the reason experts suggest the valuations are comfortable and despite the recent run-up in the markets, investors shouldn't panic.
The valuations are not only comfortable on the basis of market capitalisation to GDP, the price to earnings (PE) ratio, too, paints a similar picture.
According to the PE ratio, an equally important measure widely used to gauge valuations, Indian equity markets are cheaper. Based on FY14 estimated earnings, the price to earnings ratio of the Sensex (at the current levels of 18,713) is about 13 times.
From a historical perspective, this is low. In fact, on this matrix, the market is trading at a discount to the long-term average valuation (10-year average one-year forward price to earnings ratio is 14.8 times; during the 2008 peak, the Sensex price to earnings ratio was 24.6 times the 2008-09 estimated earnings).
One difference is in 2008, markets were hopeful of sustaining strong growth in earnings. However, now, growth expectations have mellowed (10-15 per cent growth in earnings per share), due to slow economic growth.
While the Reserve Bank of India [ Get Quote ] has begun cutting rates and more action is expected on this front, if the government is able to curb the fiscal deficit and raise the country's GDP growth, these should reflect in stronger earnings growth for India Inc.
And, if earnings growth can be sustained at 15-20 per cent, it could lead to a re-rating of the country's stock markets.
Jitendra Kumar Gupta in Mumbai
Source:
http://www.rediff.com/business/report/stocks-cheap-for-a-trillion-dollar-economy/20121016.htm
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Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time, Chapter: Nine Hundred nineteen
Palash Biswas
Mobile: 919903717833
Skype ID: palash.biswas44
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Who would cancel all those contracts of natural resources to India incs and MNCs, Mr Kejriwal?
"The time has come for the people of this country to reclaim their resources. This kind of crony capitalism cannot be allowed in this country. It has eaten into the country's resources like a Frankenstein monster." Kejriwal said. We do agree with you Mr. Kejriwal. Then just tell us, what is the way out? The constitution and Parliamnetary system made standstill, masses have no information rather they are misinformed.Production system destroyed and the class of producers is subjected to genocide without any resistance. What do we gain from the exposure of known truth unless we consolidate rock solid unity of Indian people divided in caste, religion, ethnicities, languages, regions, fighting against one another and allowing the continuity of corrupt corporate governance. Elections would not change the situation as the alternative most possible is equally corrupt and governed by corporate India and MNCs.Just see, Arvind Kejriwal today came under attack from both the BJP and the Congress with the Opposition party charging his NGO with having dubious foreign funding while the ruling party dubbed the activist and his team as "frontmen" of anti-Congress forces.
"Mukesh Ambani is running the country it seems... Jaipal Reddy was removed as he refused to hike the charges being levied by Reliance Industries to supply gas to NTPC," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
Kejriwal accused Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani of influencing Congress party's decisions.
The activist played out what he claimed were portions of tapes of lobbyist Niira Radia's conversations. The conversation makes it clear that Ambani had powerful influence over the Congress and the BJP, he claimed. "In the Nira Radia tapes, Ranjan Bhattacharya (former prime minister A B Vajpayee's son-in-law) is heard telling Niira that Mukesh Ambani told him 'Congress to ab apni dukaan hai."
"BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in 2000. Congress faithfully implemented it."
A press release from IAC alleged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had succumbed before corporate interests. "The PM was very sympathetic to RIL. PM requested Ministry of Petroleum to seek AG's opinion on whether gas prices could be increased midway as demanded by Reliance. It is strange why did the PM not show similar concern when NTPC was forced to accept higher gas price from RIL? Why is the PM not pulling up Reliance for not producing 80 mmscmd gas as per their commitment? Why did the PM not seek legal opinion when country¡¦s interests were at stake? Why is PM showing so much interest when RIL interests are at stake?"
It also says: "This episode explains the real reasons for price rise in the country. The government seems to be succumbing to illegitimate demands of some powerful corporates in the country (like RIL in this case). Benefits provided to RIL in this case contributed to price rise in power and fertilizer sectors. Similarly, on one hand, government says that they do not have Rs. 35,000 crores to provide LPG subsidy to the people, on the other hand, the government bends backwards to provide benefits to these corporate."
Kejriwal demands the cancellation of all the contracts on natural resources to Reliance.India Against Corruption on Wednesday brought Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani in its line of fire alleging that the UPA and the previous NDA governments had favoured his company by giving contract on gas exploration in KG Basin and concessions at a huge cost to the exchequer. The nexus between politicians and industrialists was the main reason behind rising prices in India, India Against Corruption activist Arivind Kejriwal said on Wednesday.What is new in an exposure so hyped? It is the ultimate truth of Indian Economy and Polity based on exclusion and excommunication. So what if in their latest exposé, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan of IAC targetted both BJP's Atal Behari Vajpayee-led NDA as well as the Congress-led UPA for 'selling out the interests of the common man to corporates'. ONGC is a public sector company which explored oilfields in India with its resources and manpower. In return the government of India gifted away those oil blocks to private companies and trying hard to sell out ONGC. Indian media , civil society and media overlooked these developments right from the beginning. The magical rise of India incorporation is not a latest phenomenon at all. Neither it just happened after neoliberal turnaround. It is a continuous phenomenon since transfer of power.Neoliberal policies rather helped other minor parties to gain and shape up the India Incs to hijack governance, policy making and legislation to multiply the profit and expansion thousand times at the cost of Indian people and Indian nation.Open market economy set the ground of monopolistic aggression against Indian People just to plunder natural resources abundant.
The oil ministry postponed Wednesday's scheduled meeting for India's official auditor to begin audit of Reliance Industries' (RIL) KG-D6 oil and gas producing block.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had called an Entry Conference for Wednesday with RIL and the oil ministry to begin its second round of audit that is to cover RIL's spending on KG-D6 gas fields during 2008-09 to 2011-12.
Official sources told IANS that the meeting was called off by the ministry earlier this week.
The IAC played out an audio tape purportedly of talks between lobbyist Niira Radia and former PM A B Vajpayee's foster son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya.
In the tapes, Radia and Bhattacharya were heard talking about the composition of the Union ministry.
Kejriawal said that both Congress and BJP were helpless against Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. In 2000, the NDA had favoured Mukesh Ambani's Reliance in gas pricing, Kejriwal said.
Calling it a "classic case of crony capitalism", activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan alleged that Reliance was "blackmailing" the government to increase the price of gas by "almost stopping" the production and indulging in "hoarding like petty traders".
Attacking the decision to shift S Jaipal Reddy from petroleum ministry, they alleged it was now "absolutely crystal clear" that he was eased out of the crucial ministry only on account of "pressure" from Reliance Industries.They said Reddy was "honest" and his "ouster" was only because he "actively resisted" Reliance' demand for an increase in the price of gas and wanted to penalise the company for "wilful reduction" of production of gas.
He asked why did Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not seek the opinion of the Attorney General when the then petroleum minister Manishankar Aiyar "refused to give in" to Reliance' demand for increasing the price of gas from $2.34 per unit to $4.2 per unit in 2006.
"In 2006, Aiyar was removed and Murli Deora was brought in and he cleared the files within one and half months. Why does he seek the opinion of Attorney General now? Why does his heart beats only for Reliance?" Kejriwal said.
New petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily refused to react to the allegations.
Kejriwal said it is always said that the Prime Minister is not involved in corruption but he comes under the purview of Prevention of Corruption Act for certain decisions taken by his government in various matters like 2G and coal block allocations.
After "exposing" Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and BJP president Nitin Gadkari, speculation was rife throughout the day on Wednesday over the anti-graft body's next target.
Kejriwal and Bhushan had hit a high with their attack on the Haryana government for allegedly winking at DLF offering sweetheart deals to Vadra.
Reliance industries on Wednesday hit back at India Against Corruption Activist Arvind Kejriwal for his claims that Mukesh Ambani was controlling the government,. In its statement issued, Reliance said that statements made by IAC were devoid of any truth.
Reliance said that the KG D6 basin has best technology and that the project has added great economic value to the country.
"Allegations made by IAC are at the behest of vested interests," it said.
Indian finance minister and the corporate set of policy makers seem to be too stressed to enhance the growth rate and RBI is under tremendous pressure to formulate monetary policies to boost market. Whatever may be the growth rate or fiscal deficit, the growth rate of corporate Indian is amazing!As the poiltical powerlies within right there.It is quite an unfamiliar development that the Reserve Bank of India left interest rates on hold on Tuesday but cut the cash reserve ratio for banks, defying pressure from the government to lower rates for the first time since April but also indicating it may soon ease policy further. While the decision to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 8.00 percent was in line with forecasts, expectations for a rate cut had grown after India's finance minister on Monday outlined a plan to trim the country's hefty fiscal deficit. RBI stood by its tough anti-inflation rhetoric by opting not to lower the key policy rate though preferred to trim the CRR as a step to lower funding costs and possible compromise. A rate cut in the face of jump in September WPI, sharp upward revision to historical numbers and recent rebound in the proxy core inflation measure, might have put the bank's inflation-fighting credibility at risk. Apparently not enthused by the RBI's cautious stance, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that growth is as much a challenge as containing inflation and government would "walk alone" to face the challenge if it comes to that.
Reliance Industries, the country's largest listed company, and its chairman Mukesh Ambani came under the attack of India Against Corruption (IAC) activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan today for allegedly "threatening the democratic structure of the country" by influencing appointment of ministers at will. Even the prime minister is powerless in front of the explorer's might, the activists said in a crowded press conference at the Constitution Club here.Kejriwal, who started the proceedings in Hindi, alleged that Jaipal Reddy, who was the Union minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas till last week, was removed because he opposed a Reliance proposal to rise the price of the gas by over three times to $14.2 per mmBTU (million metric British thermal unit).
People should prevent this Government from granting a $14.25 per unit price to RIL by sending RTI applications to the new Petroleium Minister Veerappa Moily, the activist said.
"RIL has the contract to extract oil from KG (Krishna-Godavari) basin. Under an agreement of 2009 with the government, they are supposed to sell gas at $4.2 per mmBTU up to 31st March 2014. Midway now, RIL is demanding that the price be increased to $14.2 per mmBTU. Jaipal Reddy resisted that and he was thrown out," Kejriwal said.
They added that Reddy was not the first to lose his job for taking on Reliance citing the instance of Murli Deora replacing Mani Shankar Aiyer in 2006. Aiyer, according to them, had resisted a RIL move to increase capital expenditure in the basin, which the activists said, reduced the government's profits and enriched Reliance's coffers.
Bhushan called for cancellation of all contracts awarded to Reliance be cancelled. "Consequences otherwise are horrendous. These crony capitalists are threat to our democracy itself," he said.
According to IAC, if the hike in gas prices was allowed, it would result in a substantial increase in the cost of power for end consumers. "Today, power from gas based power plant costs around Rs 3 per KWH (kilowatt hour). If gas price is increased as demanded by Reliance power prices would go up to Rs 7 per KWH," the activists said in a statement. Such escalation in prices could make most of these gas based plant unviable and would have to be shut down, the statement added.
Another key allegation was "goldplating" of capital expenditure of which the comptroller and auditor general said that there is strong evidence. The Initial Development Plan submitted by RIL in 2004 said it would produce 40 mmscmd for an investment of $ 2.39 billion. In two years RIL submitted another plan saying it would produce double gas for an investment of $ 8.8 billion. "Doesn't that sound strange? To double production, you increase your investment by four times? Having put the initial infrastructure in place, it should have cost lesser to create additional production capacity.'' Kejriwal asked.
In response, Reliance Industries said, "The statements made by IAC in the press conference today are devoid of any truth or substance whatsoever and are denied."
The statement added that the deep water exploration project in the KG-D6 basin "has deployed the best technical resources and has been recognized by the oil and gas industry as one of the very best in its class. This project has added great economic value to the country and by all accounts is a project of which India can be justly proud."
The apple of Ratan Tata's eyes, Tata Motors may be struggling under extreme competition from the likes of Anand Mahindra-led Mahindra & Mahindra, but today its he (probably), along with shareholders were pleasantly surprised by some good news from a global investment banking and securities firm.
* Goldman Sachs says the auto maker's market capitalisation has potential to reach $30 billion by fiscal 2017, from current value of $13.8 billion, and to nearly double its cash flow during these four years.
* To get there, Goldman says Tata's Jaguar Land Rover unit would need to move to a new platform for its existing models such as Range Rover and Discovery with a light weight aluminium architecture, thus improving key factors such as fuel efficiency or pricing.
* JLR would also need to make inroads into smaller engine and lower priced vehicles, as well as enter more premium segments, Goldman argues.
* However, challenges include getting consumers to buy into the brand, tightening regulations in key markets such as Europe, and overcoming macro economic uncertainties such as FX volatility.
* Goldman Sachs maintains Tata Motors at 'buy', with a target price at 334 rupees.
Tata Motors shares gain 1.4 percent after this news hit the markets.
"Growth is as much a challenge as inflation. If government has to walk alone to face the challenge of growth, then we will walk alone," the finance minister of India, P Chidambaram said in his reaction to the RBI's second quarter policy review.
Mind you,Arvind Kejriwal's press conference today, in which he targeted Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, is one more signal that politics and business cannot continue on the old assumptions: that it is something that should be done behind closed doors. Or that the public need no concern itself with these details.First post reports.
Thanks to a procession of scams – from 2G to CWG to Coalgate, Vadragate and Nitin Gadkari's Purti capers – the credibility of politicians has never been lower. What Kejriwal did today was to link politicians to businessmen – you cannot have political corruption without a corporate side to it. And who better to tell this story with than India's biggest businessman – Mukesh Ambani.
The businessman-politician linkage has been the elephant in the bedroom, and Kejriwal brought this out clearly, even though it is difficult to prove the nexus except through circumstantial evidence.
While it served Kejriwal's purpose to paint both the Congress and the BJP with the same brush – which creates the space for his own political ambitions – the critical point is this: business cannot henceforth be done non-transparently.
Arvind Kejriwal's press conference today saw him target Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost
However, Kejriwal pushed the envelope too far when he tried to link broader ideological and macroeconomic issues with corruption and profiteering. He also took a giant leap from Reliance's gas pricing lobbying to increases in power tariffs – another battle he is waging in Delhi.
Some of the ideological positions he staked out are also problematic. For example he and Prashant Bhushan are on record to say that natural resources should be auctioned. This was the entire basis for calling Coalgate a scam – even though favourtism to some of those allocated coal blocks for free is another angle that could be truly scandalous.
But the purpose of giving blocks for free was to keep power tariffs low. If coal blocks are given at market prices, power prices would rise. This does square with Kejriwal's argument that power prices should be cut when coal blocks should be given out at market prices to mine developers.
He also missed out on economic points. It makes no sense to import gas at $14 and then deny the same price to domestic producers. This is exactly what is happening with ONGC. We import at $110, and give ONGC less than half that price. The net result is ONGC does not have enough resources to take up exploration and bring down our import dependence.
Kejriwal deserves kudos for bringing out the issue of a cosy relationship between politicians and businessmen, but the need is for transparency on government and corporate processes. The economics of selling coal or gas at less than market prices has its own costs.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/kejriwal-breaks-the-silence-on-business-politics-links-510031.html
"Who is being exposed today is the question that IAC has been asked repeatedly since morning," said Prashant Bhushan.
Bhushan said no one individual but the 'entire rotten system' would be exposed by India Against Corruption (IAC).
"The working of the Indian political and business system has been entirely subverted and corrupted. The tentacles of this crony capitalist system has entered every facet of Indian society at the top of which Reliance is the leading representative," Bhushan said.
Loot from such corruption has given corporates like these overarching power over the Indian government, he said.
Kejriwal went on to add that the target of today's press meet was Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.
Hurt by Kejriwal's allegations against party chief Nitin Gadkari, the BJP said they were at the behest of those who are funding him from abroad, a charge rejected by the social activist.
The editorial of the latest edition of Congress mouthpiece Congress Sandesh, as also BJP journal Kamal Sandesh, projected Kejriwal in poor light.
Kamal Sandesh said he has taken a "supari (contract)" from foreign sources and demanded that the Manmohan Singh government investigate the matter.
"After ruining the Anna Andolan and in pursuit of its naked ambition, Team Kejriwal is involved in a conspiracy to create suspicion about 'democracy' and by doing so it is definitely playing into the hands of those who have no attachment either to India or Bharat Mata," the article said.
Kejriwal had recently alleged that Gadkari's Purti Group has bought farmers' land at cheap rates from the government and also got irrigation water from the dam in Gosikhurd area of Vidarbha diverted to his sugar factory.
"The main game of Kejriwal may be related to funding. The thing to be known is whether the funds belong to India or to the forces which want to weaken the country," the publication said.
"One who could not remain loyal to Anna, how can he be loyal to the nation? He is engaged in digging holes in democracy with the help of foreign funds," it said.
Kejriwal has refuted these allegations and asked the BJP to come clean on its funding in the last ten years.
Arvind Kejriwal's press conference on Wednesday saw a minor interruption when a man from the audience alleged that the anti-corruption activist and his India Against Corruption group were "fooling the country".
As Kejriwal was addressing the media, alleging a nexus between politicians and industrialists, a man from the audience got up and loudly demanded to know why Kejriwal and his wife, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, never got transferred for 30 years. Kejriwal is a former IRS officer.
"I want to ask why you and your wife were never transferred out of Delhi," he asked.
The man, who did not identify himself but kept insisting that he was "alone" and not backed by anyone, was immediately surrounded by Kejriwal's supporters.
The man then shouted out loudly that "Kejriwal and company are fooling the country".
Some of his supporters started shouting anti-Kejriwal slogans. They were promptly evicted by IAC supporters.
Kejriwal, resuming his speech, said the interruption was "deliberate and planned".
Here are the highlights/quotes of the meet, including the scuffle:
* IAC targets 'scam' behind price hike: Kejriwal says, "Industrialist-politician nexus behind inflation, which has impoverished India."
* On tapes: AB Vajpayee kin Ranjan Bhattacharaya talks to Niira Radia on DMK-Bhattacharya asks Radia whom in DMK does she want in Cabinet.
* Vajpayee gave KG Basin contract to Mukesh Ambani
* Reliance got 45,000cr windfall gains
*Present government not being run by Manmohan Singh but by Mukesh Ambani
* Reliance held govt to ransom demanding higher gas price and when Jaipal Reddy demurred he was unceremoniously removed from ministership.
* Reliance started hoarding gas like 'Tuchcha dalals' creating artificial scarcity in India.
* Reliance wanted to set the price of gas and not govt - UPA fell in line.
* Mulri Deora favoured Reliance too
* Pranab Mukherjee gave Rs 10,000 cr windfall gains to Reliance
* Why did government favour Reliance?
* Reliance 'dadagiri' hit gas production in India.
* Mani Shanker Iyer was removed to serve the vested interests of the politicians.
*Chaos at Kejriwal presser as IAC men rough-up bystander for asking anti-Arvind question.
* Why transfer of Kejriwal and wife did not happen for 20 years asks bystander.
Kejriwal restores orders says, will answer that question but digresses.
*Man thrown out for asking Kejriwal personal question.
* Bhushan says people of the country must reclaim their rights and ensure that their interests are not subverted.
Arvind Kejriwal says, he does not expect govt to do any thing about IAC exposé.
The people of India must ensure they throw out both Congress BJP from power and reclaim their Constitutional rights.
Read full IAC report:
Kya Congress Mukesh Ambani ki dukaan hai?
* In 2006, Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and Murli Deora brought in to increase RIL capex from $ 2.39 billion to $ 8.8 billion and to increase gas price from $2.34 per mmBTU to $ 4.2 per mmBTU.
*In 2012, Jaipal Reddy has been removed and Moily brought in to increase gas prices from $ 4.2 per mmBTU to $ 14.2 mmBTU and to condone RIL's blackmailing of reducing gas production.
* Huge benefits given to RIL in last one decade despite flagrant violations of various agreements by RIL. Benefits to RIL causing serious price rise in the country.
* Both BJP and Congress involved. BJP signed a sweet deal with RIL in 2000. Congress faithfully implemented it.
* If RIL demand of increasing the gas price to $ 14.2 is accepted, it would lead to shut down of several gas based power plants and increase in power and fertilizer prices. It would result in Rs 43,000 crores of additional benefits to RIL.
In the Nira Radia tapes, Ranjan Bhattacharya (Vajpayee's son in law) is heard telling Nira that Mukesh Ambani told him –"Congress to ab apni dukaan hai." Facts below show that both Congress and BJP are in his pocket.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has the contract to extract oil from KG Basin. Under an agreement of 2009 with the government, they are supposed to sell gas at $ 4.2 per mmBTU upto 31st March 2014. Midway now, RIL is demanding that the price be increased to $ 14.2 per mmBTU. Jaipal Reddy resisted that and he was thrown out.
Jaipal Reddy had prepared a note for EGOM, in which he mentioned that acceptance of RIL's demand would mean an additional profit of Rs43,000 crores ($8.5 billion) to RIL(in 2 years) at current levels of low production. Most of this gas is used in fertilizer and power production. Increasing gas price would mean an additional financial burden of Rs 53,000Crores ($ 10.5 billion) on central and state government (copy of relevant page of EGOM note is attached as annexure 1). This would in turn mean higher electricity and fertilizer prices in the country or a higher subsidy burden.
In order to pressurize the government, RIL substantially reduced its production of natural gas. Total consumption of natural gas in the country is 156 mmscmd. According to agreement, RIL was supposed to produce 80mmscmd (more than 50% of the total demand) from 2009. However, they are producing just 27 mmscmd, almost a third of their commitment. Production has been artificially kept low to blackmail the government. They are not just hoarding the gas, but also forcing various consumers to buy gas from abroad. Gas from abroad costs around $ 13 per mmBTU.
RIL's stand is simple – "hum to gas $14.2 par hi denge, lena hai to lo, nahin to jao." Who does this gas belong to? According to Supreme Court of India and the Indian Constitution, this gas belongs to thepeople of India. Complete surrender of UPA before RIL indicates UPA's inability to run governance in accordance with the Constitution.
Drastic reduction in production has forced many gas based power plants in the country to shut down or run at much lower capacity. According to media reports, almost 9000 MW of gas based power plants are lying idle
. Today, power from gas based power plant costs around Rs 3 per KWH. If gas price is increased from $ 4.2 to $ 14.2 as demanded by Reliance, power rates would go upto Rs 7 per KWH. That's too expensive. At that cost, most of these plants would have to permanently shut down.
This is not the first time that a union minister has been eased out at Mukesh Ambani's insistence. In 2006, when RIL had to get its capex increased from $ 2.39 billion dollars to $ 8.8 billion dollars, Mani Shankar Iyer was removed and a more Reliance friendly MurliDeora was brought in.
Brief history:
RIL got this contract during NDA regime in the year 2000. The contract was meant to favor RIL right from the beginning. In any business, increase in costs means decrease in profits. However, the NDA government , signed a contract dictated by RIL wherein an increase in cost by one rupee meant additional profits of RIL by almost Rs 2.2. Isn't it strange? A parameter called Investment Multiple has been defined in the contract as under:
Investment Multiple (IM) = Total Revenue / Total Investment
According to the contract, till IM is below 1.5, RIL takes away more than 80% of profits and government gets less than 20% of profits. It is only when IM becomes more than 2.5 that government gets 85%. This means, RIL has a huge incentive to keep IM below 1.5 by increasing the expenditure artificially. Thus if Reliance were to increase expenditure from 1 Billion to 2 Billion on a revenue of 5 billion, their own net income would go up from 1.6 Billion to 3.5 Billion. This is what the CAG has stated in para 8.1 of its performance Audit of Hydrocarbon PSCs. (extract from executive summary of CAG as annexure 2)
In 2004, RIL submitted an Initial Development Plan (IDP) saying they would produce 40 mmscmd for an investment of $ 2.39 billion. All this happened when Ram Naik was the petroleum minister in Vajpayee regime.
Within 2 years, RIL submitted another plan saying they would produce 80 mmscmd for an increased investment of $ 8.8 billion. Doesn't that sound strange? To double production, you increase your investment by four times? Having put the initial infrastructure in place, it should have cost lesser to create additional production capacity.
Mani Shankar Iyer, who was the then Petroleum minister, would not have allowed this. So, Mani was shunted out of petroleum ministry and Murli Deora, famous to be Reliance man, was brought in January 2006. Despite strong protests by some MPs like Tapan Sen, Deora approved $ 8.8 billion expenditure. By allowing $ 8.8 billion expenditure, in effect, Deora allowed a future revenue of over Rs 1 lakh crores ($ 20 billion dollars) for RIL.
CAG has remarked that there is strong evidence that RIL is gold plating its capital expenditure. Expenditure has been artificially increased (for reasons mentioned above). For instance, RIL is required to place orders for its plant, machinery and other requirements through international competitive bids. CAG alleges that bids were arbitrarily rejected to favor some parties. Just one company namely Aker group got many contracts (see annexure 3, which is an extract from CAG report). Is this group related to RIL? Is RIL siphoning off money through this method?
RIL's pressure tactics:
RIL signed a contract with NTPC in 2004 to supply gas for its power plants at $ 2.34 per mmBTU for 17 years. It signed a similar contract with RNRL to supply gas at $ 2.34 per mmBTU. However, RIL went back on its word. Under RIL's pressure, EGOM headed by Sh Pranab Mukherjee, revised gas price in September 2007 to $ 4.2 per mmBTU. NTPC and RNRL were forced to accept gas from RIL at revised price. By doing this, Pranab Mukherjee headed EGOM gave an undue benefit of Rs8000 crores to RIL.
What is RIL's actual cost of production?
Cost of production is much less than $ 2.34 per mmBTU. (Copy of extracts from an SC order Annexure 4).RIL had actually signed long term agreements with NTPC and RNRL for supplying gas at that rate for 17 years. This means that at $2.34 per mmBTU also, RIL was making adequate profits. India is getting gas at $ 0.9 per mmBTU from Oman. Gas rates in Canada are at $ 1.74 per mmBTU. This means that at $ 2.34 per mmBTU also, RIL was making huge profits.
RIL sold out nation's resources:
Ownership rights of this gas belong to the people of India. RIL is just a contractor hired by GOI to extract gas. Strangely, RIL sold 30% stake in 21 of 29 oil blocks to British Petroleum in July 2011 at $ 7.2 billion. Government gave approval to RIL to do that. How can they do that? It is almost like – I hire a driver to drive my car and that driver sells off my car after a few days.
Performance of RIL so far has been much worse than perhaps the worst performing government department.
1. 4 times cost escalation within 2 years from $ 2.39 billion in 2004 to $ 8.8 billion in 2006.
2. Increase in gas price from $ 2.34 per mmBTU in 2004 to $ 4.2 per mmBTU in 2007 to the present demand of $ 14.2 per mmBTU.
3. Capacity created for producing 80 mmscmd after incurring such a huge cost ends up producing just 27 mmscmd after 12 years.
4. 31 oil wells should have been in production till now. Out of them, just 13 are functional.
Has any government department fared as badly? If this had happened in any government department, it would have been ripped apart by all government agencies and media.
RIL scam akin to coal scam:
This scam is on similar lines as Coal block allocation scam. Coal blocks were given away saying that coal production was less in the country and private sector participation would increase coal production. Rather than produce coal, the private parties hoarded coal blocks to sell them at appropriate time in future.
In this case also, oil blocks were given away to RIL on the excuse that oil and gas production in the country was less and private sector participation would bring "efficiency". Rather than the production going up, RIL is hoarding the gas.
Role of PM:
RIL's request for increase in gas prices was turned down by Ministry of Petroleum under Jaipal Reddy and EGOM several times in the last 2 years. EGOM had fixed $ 4.2 per mmBTU price for RIL upto 31.3.2014. When Jaipal Reddy did not budge, RIL approached the PM. PM was very sympathetic to RIL. PM requested Ministry of Petroleum to seek AG's opinion on whether gas prices could be increased midway as demanded by Reliance. It is strange why did the PM not show similar concern when NTPC was forced to accept higher gas price from RIL? Why is the PM not pulling up Reliance for not producing 80 mmscmd gas as per their commitment? Why did the PM not seek legal opinion when country's interests were at stake? Why is PM showing so much interest when RIL interests are at stake?
Notice to RIL by Jaipal Reddy:
When RIL failed to meet its production targets, Jaipal Reddy decided to disallow their capital expenditure. In the first instance, a notice for disallowance of $ 1 billion expenditure was sent to RIL (Annex 5). This would mean a loss of $2.2 (11,000 Crores) billion to RIL, if we consider IM ratio. Next year, this disallowance could be $ 1.5 billion, which would mean a loss of $ 3.3 billion (16,500 Crores) for RIL.
That is the reason why Mukesh Ambani got restless. And that is the reason why Jaipal Reddy was transferred out.
Real reasons for price rise in the country:
This episode explains the real reasons for price rise in the country. The government seems to be succumbing to illegitimate demands of some powerful corporates in the country (like RIL in this case). Benefits provided to RIL in this case contributed to price rise in power and fertilizer sectors. Similarly, on one hand, government says that they do not have Rs 35,000 crores to provide LPG subsidy to the people, on the other hand, the government bends backwards to provide benefits to these corporate.
Questions:
1. Who is running the government? It appears that telecom companies select their own nominee as Telecom minister and RIL selects its own person as Petroleum minister.
2. So, is this government being run by powerful corporates?
3. Is Dr Manmohan Singh succumbing to corporates under some compulsions or out of ignorance? What are the compulsions, if any?
We demand:
RIL blackmailing should be immediately stopped. Their KG Basin contract should be cancelled. Government should immediately put in place adequate systems to get full production from KG Basin at cheapest prices for the country.
Chidambaram was apparently upset over RBI's decision to leave interest rates unchanged on inflation concerns despite the government unveiling a five-year fiscal consolidation road map ahead of the policy.
Although the RBI has lowered the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), the portion of deposit banks have to park with the apex bank, by 0.25 per cent, it did not cut interest rates in view on persistent inflationary pressures.
WPI inflation stood at 7.81 per cent in September, much above the RBI's comfort level of 4-4.5 per cent.
"Government is doing its best to send the clear message that we are on the path of fiscal consolidation. It is my hope that everyone will read and understand the government commitment to path of fiscal consolidation," Chidambaram said.
On the policy statement, he quipped: "I have not read the last few paragraphs of the statement but if it holds out hope for the future I look forward to that future".
He was apparently referring to the RBI's policy guidance of a likelihood of policy easing in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal.
Chidambaram further said: "Sometimes it is best to speak, sometimes it is best to remain silent. This is the time for silence".
After FM, Montek rains brickbats on RBI
Terming the decision of RBI to cut CRR a step in the right direction, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the need to push growth should take precedence over combating inflation.
"I can see that the RBI remains concerned about inflation. I think we need to watch what happens in inflation but probably the need to push the growth at this moment is little higher on agenda than the concern about inflation," Ahluwalia told reporters here.
Showing concerns over hardening inflation, the Reserve Bank today left the key interest rate unchanged but reduced cash reserve ratio by 0.25 per cent to inject Rs 17,500 crore liquidity into the financial system.
CRR or the portion of deposits banks have to park with the RBI now stands at 4.25 per cent while the repo rate, at which RBI lends to the system, has been retained at 8 per cent.
Ahluwalia said, "It was expected that they (RBI) would move in the direction that would be supportive of revival of growth. I do think that the reduction in the CRR is a step in that direction. Hopefully it would moderate pressure on the interest rates."
About RBI not doing enough to push growth, he said, "We have to push for growth anyway. Monetary policy is very important aspect of the growth push, but most of what need to be done for growth, has to be done by the government and weare going to do it."
He is of the view that CRR cut would have stronger impact on interest rate than simply adjusting the repo rate because bank does not lend freely at the repo rate and it does not play the role which FED fund rate do in the US.
On fiscal consolidation road map chalked out by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, he said, "We are determined to bring the fiscal deficit down."
On whether monetary policy is in sync with fiscal policy, he said, "...enough has been done to indicate a start in other policies like fiscal consolidation, reforms and moving big projects... the direction that monetary should move is quite clearly to be supportive of that."
About the lowering of growth projection for this fiscal to 5.8 per cent this fiscal from earlier estimates of 6.5 per cent, he said, "If we do 5.8 per cent GDP growth this fiscal that would actually imply very significant improvement over the results that we have got for the first quarter."
"I think that the growth in the second quarter would be similar to first quarter. If we do 5.5 in the first six months, can we do better in next half. I think we can.
Therefore 5.8 per cent is not broadly off the mark," he added.
As inflation eases further, there will be an opportunity for monetary policy to act in conjunction with fiscal and other measures to mitigate the growth risks and take the economy to a sustained higher growth trajectory, RBI Governor D Subbarao wrote in his quarterly policy review.
Headline wholesale price index inflation rose to 7.8 per cent in September, a 10-month peak, and the RBI said it expects inflation to rise before easing in the final quarter of the fiscal year, which ends in March.
While risks to this trajectory remain, the baseline scenario suggests a reasonable likelihood of further policy easing in the fourth quarter of 2012-13, Subbarao wrote.
The market had been positioned for a rate cut, said A Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.
There's a positive that RBI has said there's a likelihood of easing in the Jan-March quarter. Looks like RBI wants inflation to peak out before cutting rates so we shouldn't expect anything in December. We expect a 50 basis points cut during Jan-March, he said.
India's 10-year bond yield rose around 4 basis points, while the rupee and stocks weakened.
Investors, companies and the government have been clamouring for a cut to interest rates that have been on hold since April and remain some of the highest among major economies.
A rate cut in the face of jump in September WPI, sharp upward revision to historical numbers and recent rebound in the proxy core inflation measure, might have put the bank's inflation-fighting credibility at risk, said Radhika Rao, an economist at Forecast Pte in Singapore.
While economic growth in India has been slowing, inflation has not, and the central bank has been calling on the government to follow through quickly on recent steps to cut its deficit and encourage investment, and to take further such measures.
Recent policy announcements by the government, which have positively impacted sentiment, need to be translated into effective action to convert sentiment into concrete investment decisions, Subbarao wrote.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday outlined a plan to nearly halve the deficit in just over four years. While he gave few specifics, his announcement at a hastily called news conference was seen as adding pressure on the RBI to cut rates.
New Delhi has unveiled a spate of reforms to bolster investment and rein in its fiscal deficit, including raising the price of subsidised diesel and lifting caps on foreign investment in several industries.
The RBI cut its GDP growth forecast for Asia's third-largest economy to 5.8 per cent for the current fiscal year, from 6.5 per cent previously, and increased its projection for headline inflation in March to 7.5 percent, from 7 percent earlier.
The central bank lowered the cash reserve ratio, the amount of deposits that banks must keep with the central bank, by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent, a move it said would inject about 175 billion rupees into the banking system in order to preempt potentially tightening liquidity.
In a poll earlier this month, economists had been nearly evenly split on whether or not the RBI would lower CRR.
India Inc's business confidence has improved since August: Survey
PTI Oct 7, 2012,NEW DELHI: India Inc's business confidence has shown a marked improvement since August, mainly buoyed by several decisions taken by the government recently, including allowing FDI in multi-brand retail, aviation and approving hike in foreign investment in insurance, Assocham has said.
However, "it will take another three months before the feel-good gets converted into a sharp recovery in the economic growth", the survey by the trade body added.
About 70 per cent of the 245 CEOs who participated in the survey said the GDP growth in 2012-13 will not be below six per cent, it added.Majority said they do not see any political threat to the government and expect it to complete its full term.
Rather, the pace of reforms as witnessed in the last two months will continue for at least next six months, it said.
The vast majority of the respondents said that "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to hold his ground and not yield to the pressure to roll back reforms".
It also said one or two big ticket multi-billion infrastructure projects should now take off and demand should return to the consumer durables.
Among other reform decisions, the government has approved foreign investment in pension funds and power exchanges.
"The areas still showing concern are exports, especially in the merchandise segments. The demand slowdown and recession in some European economies are impacting the shipments," it said, adding that exports for the year would fall below the target of $360 billion.
Indian stocks cheap for a trillion-dollar economy
October 16, 2012 10:29 ISTShare
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Even as the BSE Sensex has risen about eight per cent since September 6, a day before the current rally began, or about 21 per cent year-to-date, all is not lost.If one considers the market capitalisation to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which is frequently used by many large investors to gauge the valuation of a market and understand its possible direction, India's current capitalisation is about 64 per cent of the country's estimated GDP for 2012-13.
This is a little more than its 13-year average of 62 per cent, but about 40 per cent lower than its peak in 2008. This indicates valuations are still low.
During the market rally in 2008, the ratio rose to about 103 per cent. Experts suggest whenever the ratio crosses 100 per cent, once should be cautious.
After Indian markets crashed following the 2008 peak, the ratio dropped to about 55 per cent in 2008-09. Since 2009, though the economy has grown and global uncertainties have partially eased, markets are still trading near long-period averages.
In fact, after the 2008-09 global economic crisis, though India Inc's earnings have improved, valuations remain low.
The combined earnings per share of the 30 Sensex companies has risen from Rs 833 for 2007-08 to Rs 1,125 for 2011-12, a rise of 35 per cent. But the valuations are near the historical average, and this is the reason experts suggest the valuations are comfortable and despite the recent run-up in the markets, investors shouldn't panic.
The valuations are not only comfortable on the basis of market capitalisation to GDP, the price to earnings (PE) ratio, too, paints a similar picture.
According to the PE ratio, an equally important measure widely used to gauge valuations, Indian equity markets are cheaper. Based on FY14 estimated earnings, the price to earnings ratio of the Sensex (at the current levels of 18,713) is about 13 times.
From a historical perspective, this is low. In fact, on this matrix, the market is trading at a discount to the long-term average valuation (10-year average one-year forward price to earnings ratio is 14.8 times; during the 2008 peak, the Sensex price to earnings ratio was 24.6 times the 2008-09 estimated earnings).
One difference is in 2008, markets were hopeful of sustaining strong growth in earnings. However, now, growth expectations have mellowed (10-15 per cent growth in earnings per share), due to slow economic growth.
While the Reserve Bank of India [ Get Quote ] has begun cutting rates and more action is expected on this front, if the government is able to curb the fiscal deficit and raise the country's GDP growth, these should reflect in stronger earnings growth for India Inc.
And, if earnings growth can be sustained at 15-20 per cent, it could lead to a re-rating of the country's stock markets.
Jitendra Kumar Gupta in Mumbai
Source:
http://www.rediff.com/business/report/stocks-cheap-for-a-trillion-dollar-economy/20121016.htm
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- 7 Aug 2012 – Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has started inviting online applications for 889 positions for its Graduate Trainee (GT) Recruitment ...
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Krishna Godavari Basin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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- Krishna-Godavari Basin is a peri-cratonic passive margin basin in India. It is spread across more than 50,000 square kilometers in the Krishna River and ...
- Discoveries - Ecology - Corruption by Reliance Industries - Projects
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KG basin - The Economic Times
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- KG basin Latest Breaking News, Pictures, Videos, and Special Reports from The ... KG basin Blogs, Comments and Archive News on Economictimes.com.
Seven years on, KG basin gas story runs out of steam - Times Of India
- articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com › Collections › Ril
- 10 Sep 2012 – MUMBAI: In 2005, while addressing students at IIM-Ahmedabad, Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani compared India's east ...
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Articles about Krishna Godavari Basin - Economic Times
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Economic Times
- Cancel KG basin allotment to Reliance: Kejriwal
- Deccan Herald - 3 hours ago
- According to Kejriwal, the KG basin was awarded to Reliance in 2000 by the NDA government when the corporate agreed to supply gas to the ...
- ONGC close to capping well to check gas leak in KG basin
- Moneycontrol.com - 1 day ago
- ONGC well in KG block leaking gas, environment damage feared
- Hindu Business Line - 2 days ago
KGBasin
- www.kgbasin.in/
- About 16 km from Naraspur, Matsyapuri is a part of the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG basin), one of the first sites explored by the Oil and Natural Gas Commission ...
Krishna Godavari - Basin - Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
- www.dghindia.org/16.aspx
- The Krishna Godavari Basin is a proven petroliferous basin of continental margin located on the east coast of India .Its onland part covers an area of 15000 sq.
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Cancel KG basin allotment to Reliance: Arvind Kejriwal - India - DNA
- www.dnaindia.com › INDIA
- 3 hours ago – Jaipal Reddy was removed as petroleum minister for refusing a proposal of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to hike the charges of the ...
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Cancel KG basin allotment to Reliance, says Kejriwal - Yahoo! News ...
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- 43 minutes ago – 'Cancel KG basin allotment to Reliance, says Kejriwal' on Yahoo! News India. New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) S. Jaipal Reddy was axed as ...
ONGC to cap leak at KG basin well soon: Vasudeva | Firstpost
- www.firstpost.com › Business
- 1 day ago – G-1-9 well was drilled about a decade back and had not been put in production till now.
Special: All about the Reliance-KG Basin controversy - Rediff.com ...
- www.rediff.com › Business
- 20 Sep 2011 – CPI(M) Rajya Sabha Tapan Sen, in an interview to Rediff.com, explains what he believes are the irregularities committed by Reliance ...
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Krishna Godavari Basin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krishna-Godavari Basin (also known as KG Basin) is a peri-cratonic passive margin basin in India. It is spread across more than 50,000 square kilometers[1] in the Krishna River and Godavari River basins in Andhra Pradesh. The site is known for the D-6 block where Reliance Industries discovered the biggest natural gas reserves in India in 2002. It was also the world's largest gas discovery of 2002.[2]
Contents |
Discoveries
It was in 1983 that Gas was first struck in Rajole Well No.1 when ONGC had a small office in Rajahmundry and Narsapur that was headed by Iqbal Farooqi. Since that discovery there had been no looking back. Reliance and others are late players in that area.
- 14 trillion cubic feet of gas by Reliance Industries in KG-DWN-98/l (KG-D6) in 2002.[3] 6000 feet below the sea floor. [4]
- 20 trillion cubic feet (5.7×1011 m3)cubic feet of gas by Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation in June 2005.[5]
- 20 trillion cubic feet (5.7×1011 m3) of gas at D-3 and D-9 blocks by Reliance Industries in May 2009. [6]
- 10 trillion cubic feet (2.8×1011 m3) of gas by ONGC in June 2009. [7]
Ecology
The basin is home to Olive Ridley turtles, an endangered species [8]
Corruption by Reliance Industries
CAG report on Krishna Godavari Basin clearly concludes the following irregularities by Reliance Industries:
- Eliminated competition in contracts.
- Awarded contracts at unreasonable rates.
- Directly notified oil and gas discoveries without informing government
- Profit sharing mechanism with Government was designed in late 1990s
- RIL and GAIL Made profits by purchasing gas at a price of USD 4.2 per million British thermal units where the price of imported LNG ranges between USD 12 and USD 17 per mmBtu resulting net loss to exchequer.
Projects
KG-DWN-98/1 (KG-D6) - 8100sq km. The total project is expected to cost $100 billion. [13] 50km off the coast of Kakinada. [14]
References
- ^ "A unique and lucrative basin". January 18 - 31, 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ Reliance gas-find 40 times bigger than Bombay High
- ^ "KG-DWN-98/1 (KG-D6), Bay of Bengal". Offshore Technology. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ "Reliance gas-find 40 times bigger than Bombay High". rediff.com. 2002-10-31. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ Record gas discovery in India could hit projects
- ^ RIL strikes 2 more gas reserves in KG basin
- ^ ONGC scores hat-trick on gas discoveries
- ^ Oil cos stumble on Olive Ridley ground
- ^ http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cag-report-on-kg-basin-puts-ril-in-the-dock%E2%80%8E/1/150531.html
- ^ "GAIL making illegal profits by diverting its share of KG gas: Ramsinh Rathwa, BJP MP". The Times Of India. 2011-11-21.
- ^ http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/rils-new-gas-finds-not-viable-at-usd-42mmbtu-price-dgh_590546.html
- ^ http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Reliance-violated-contract-terms-in-KG-Basin--finds-CAG-report/843940/
- ^ "Specifications: KG-DWN-98/1 (KG-D6), Bay of Bengal". Offshore Technology. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
- ^ "Reliance completes one year of gas production in KG Basin". Chillx.info. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
India Inc.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
India Inc. is a common term used by the Indian media to refer to the formal (comprising government and corporate) sector of the nation. It employed 7 per cent of the workforce in 2000[1] and contributed 60 per cent of the nominal GDP of the nation. The informal sector consists of 44 million non-farm enterprises as per recent labour survey.
The Companies Act 1956 allows a variety of formations in the mixed economy of India.. The Ministry of Company Affairs estimates that as of 31 October 2005, there were 712,800 companies registered in India (excluding foreign companies) as detailed below:
| Category | Non-government | Government | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private companies limited by shares | 628,957 | 612 | 629,569 |
| Public companies limited by shares | 78,473 | 724 | 79,197 |
| Companies limited by guarantee | 3,530 | 7 | 3,537 |
| Companies with unlimited liability | 497 |
There were 821,212 companies by the end of 2009. Almost one-fifth of these companies were head quartered in Maharashtra, another one-fifth in Delhi, one-fifth in West Bengal and one-eighth in Andhra Pradesh.
See also
References
External links
- India Inc. The official RuneScape clan for India recognised by Jagex Ltd.
- India Inc.: Aiming Higher by Susan Kitchens (forbes.com)
- India Inc., Still Going Strong by Jaikumar Vijayan (computerworld.com)
- India Inc. arrives overseas by Vipul Mudgal for HT Research (HindustanTimes.com)
  | This article related or pertaining to the economy of India is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Reliance Industries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | BSE: 500325, NSE: RELIANCE, LSE: RIGD BSE SENSEX Constituent |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Predecessor(s) | Reliance Commercial Corporation |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Founder(s) | Dhirubhai Ambani |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Key people | Mukesh Ambani (Chairman and MD) |
| Products | Crude oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, petroleum, polyester, textiles, retail, telecom |
| Revenue |  US$ 76.119 billion (2012)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 4.116 billion (2012)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 64.230 billion (2012)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 33.263 billion (2012)[1] |
| Employees | 23,166 (2012)[1] |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | RIL.com |
 | This article appears to be written like an advertisement. (October 2012) |
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) (BSE: 500325, NSE: RELIANCE, LSE: RIGD) is an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company operates through three business segments: petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas; other divisions of the company include textiles, retail business, special economic zone (SEZ) development and telecom/broadband business. RIL is one of the largest publicly traded company in India by market capitalisation and is the second largest company in India by revenue after Indian Oil Corporation.[2] It is also India's largest private sector company by revenue and profit. The company is ranked 99th on Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations for the year 2012.[3]
Contents |
History
Products
Though the company's petrochemicals, refining, and oil and gas-related operations form the incore of its business, other dividors of the company include cloth, retail business and special economic zone (SEZ) development. Reliance Retail has entered into the fresh foods market as Reliance Fresh.
RIL is to invest $10 billion over the next few years in its new aerospace division which will design, develop, manufacture, equipment and components, including airframe, engine, radars, avionics and accessories for military and civilian aircraft, helicopters, unmanned airborne vehicles and aerostats. It had applied for industrial licence in early July 2012. This decision comes after the creation of Reliance Aerospace Technologies Pvt Ltd and Reliance Security Solutions Ltd. [4]
Businesses divisions
Major subsidiaries and associates
- Reliance Life Sciences participates in medical, plant and industrial biotechnology opportunities. Specifically, these relate to biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticals, clinical research services, regenerative medicine, molecular medicine, novel therapeutics, biofuels, plant biotechnology, and industrial biotechnology.[5]
- Reliance Institute of Life Sciences (Rils), established by Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation, is an institution of higher education in various fields of life sciences and related technologies.[6]
- Reliance Logistics (P) Limited is a single-window solutions provider for transportation, distribution, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain needs, supported by in-house state of the art telematics and telemetry solutions.[7]
- Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS), a contract research organisation (CRO) and wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences, has been set up to provide clinical research services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies.[8]
- Reliance Solar, the solar energy initiative of Reliance, aims to bring solar energy systems and solutions primarily to remote and rural areas and bring about a transformation in the quality of life.[9]
- Relicord is a stem-cell banking service controlled by Reliance Industries.[10]
- Infotel Broadband is a broadband service provider which gained 4G licensees for operating across India, now it is wholly owned by RIL for
4,800 crore (US$907.2 million).[11][12]
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited (RIIL)[13] was incorporated in September 1988 as Chembur Patalganga Pipelines Limited, with the main objective being to build and operate cross-country pipelines for transporting petroleum products. The company's name was subsequently changed to CPPL Limited in September 1992, and thereafter to its present name, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited, in March 1994. It has been promoted by Mr. Satyapal Jain and his associates. The company set up a 200-millimetre diameter twin pipeline system that connects the Bharat Petroleum refinery at Mahul, Maharashtra, to Reliance's petrochemical complex at Patalaganga, Maharashtra. The pipeline carries petroleum products including naphtha and kerosene. It has commissioned facilities like the supervisory control and data acquisition system and the cathodic protection system, a jackwell at River Tapi, and a raw water pipeline system at Hazira. The infrastructure company constructed a 70,000 kilolitre petrochemical product storage and distribution terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Area in Maharashtra.ambani RIIL is mainly engaged in the business of setting up and operating industrial infrastructure. The company is also engaged in related activities involving leasing and providing services connected with computer software and data processing.
Reliance Retail
See Reliance Retail
Reliance Retail is the retail business wing of the Reliance business. Many brands like Reliance Fresh, Reliance Footprint, Reliance Time Out, Reliance Digital, Reliance Wellness, Reliance Trendz, Reliance Autozone, Reliance Super, Reliance Mart, Reliance iStore, Reliance Home Kitchens, Reliance Market (Cash n Carry) and Reliance Jewel come under the Reliance Retail brand.
TGB
Environmental record
Reliance Industry is the world's largest polyester producer and as a result one of the largest producers of polyester waste in the world. In order to deal with this large amount of waste, they had to create a way to recycle the waste. They operate the largest polyester recycling centre that uses the polyester waste as a filling and stuffing. They developed an innovative recycling process resulting in an award in 'Team Excellence'.[14]
Awards and recognition
- International Refiner of the Year in 2005 at the 23rd Annual Hart's World Refining and Fuels Conference[15]
- According to survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times in 2010, Reliance is the second most valuable brand in India.[16]
- The Brand Trust Report, 2011 has ranked Reliance industries as the 6th most trusted brand in India.[17]
- 'Responsible Care Company' awarded by the American Chemistry Council, India in March, 2012[18]
- RIL has been ranked at 20th position across the world, on the basis of sales, in the ICIS[19] Top 100 Chemicals Companies list.
- RIL has been ranked No. 1 in India on the basis of average market capitalization, No. 1 in total assets and No. 2 on the basis of total income in 2012, by Business World magazine. In the same report, RIL ranked 2nd among the top 100 gainers in India.[20]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Financial Highlights". RIL Financial Highlights.
- ^ "RIL one of the most valuable company in India". CNBC-TV18. 14 October 2011.
- ^ "Fortune Global 500". CNN Money. Retrieved 9 July 2012Fortune 2012 latest rankings.
- ^ The Times Of India. 28 July 2012. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/ril-lines-up-close-to-1-billion-plan-in-aerospace-sector-may-hire-around-1500-people/articleshow/15214083.cms.
- ^ "About us, Reliance Life Sciences". Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Welcome to Reliance Institute of Life Sciences". Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "About us, Reliance Logistics". Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Reliance Clinical Research Services — About". Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "About us, Reliance Solar". Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "About us, Relicord". Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Reliance Industries buys 95% stake in Infotel Broadband for Rs 4,800 cr". The Times Of India. 12 June 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- ^ "RIL Subsidiaries & Associates".
- ^ Shah, Manan. "Company History". money control.
- ^ Bhatt, Hari (2006). "Reliance Industries award". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 20 August 2010.[dead link]
- ^ http://www.ril.com/rportal/jsp/eportal/media/PressRelease.jsp?id=332
- ^ "India's top 10 brands". business.rediff.com. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
- ^ ": Videos". Moneycontrol.com. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ^ "RIL gets certified as 'Responsible Care Company'". 04/03/2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ "RIL among world's largest chemical firms". The Hindu. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ "India's 50 Biggest Non- Financial Companies". Business World. 29/10/2012.
External links
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