The Union Budget 2021-22 has proposed a higher capital outlay for energy companies. While the oil and gas sector saw an increase of 5 percent, the power sector saw an increase of 19 percent compared to the revised estimates (RE) of FY21.
For the next financial year, investment in state-run oil and gas companies is pegged at Rs 104,870 crore, up from Rs 99,650 based on the revised estimates of FY21. However, it is lower than Rs 107,154 crore earmarked in FY20.
Similarly, investment in the power sector in FY22 is pegged at Rs 59,990 - Rs 9,600 crore more than the last fiscal.
The capital outlay for Oil and Natural gas Corporation (ONGC) is down 8 percent at Rs 29,800 crore against Rs 32,501 crore during the current financial year. Another energy giant, National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) outlay was up 13 percent to Rs 23,736 crore.
In the exploration and production segment under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, that includes companies like ONGC and Oil India, overall investment declined by 6 percent to Rs 49,435 crore.
On the other hand, refinery and marketing segment saw an increase of 17 percent to Rs 49,803 crore, with a considerable increase in the outlay of companies like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL).
The overall outlay for IOC was seen at Rs 28,546 crore, up 9 percent from Rs 26,305 crore in the RE of FY21. The investment in HPCL was up 21 percent for the year under review to Rs 14,500 crore, compared to Rs 12,000 crore during the current fiscal.
Divestment-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) saw an increase of 10 percent in its capital expenditure for the year to Rs 7,740 crore.
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the plans to monetise the pipeline assets of IOC, GAIL, and HPCL.