Indian share markets have continued to hover close to the dotted line in the post-noon trading session. Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with metal and banking stocks being the biggest losers, while consumer durables and realty stocks are leading the gains.
The BSE-Sensex is trading up by 12 points. The NSE-Nifty is trading down by 4 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading flat and the BSE Small Cap index is trading up 0.3%. The rupee is trading at 66.99 to the US dollar.
According to a leading economic daily, the government plans to auction many oil and gas fields of state owned firms to private enterprises. Of the 69 idle oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and Oil India Ltd which are to be auctioned, 28 are in Mumbai Offshore while another 14 are in the prolific Krishna Godavari (KG) basin. Reportedly, as many as 10 discoveries in the Assam shelf are also on offer.
The auction will be done on a new revenue sharing model where bidders will be asked to quote the revenue they will share with the government at low and high end of the price and production band. The new revenue sharing regime will replace the controversial Production Sharing Contract (PSC) model where oil and gas blocks are awarded to those firms which show that they will do maximum work on a block.
Also, single a license for exploration and exploitation of conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbons will be issued and operators will have the freedom to sell oil and gas on an arms-length basis by market price.
As per reports, engineering major Siemens may be looking to acquire new businesses which will support its existing verticals of energy, automation and engineering services. The company currently has a cash surplus of Rs 23 billion.
Siemens may look to acquire a new technology, which could be used in local and international market, or access to newer markets based on better dealership network. It may be noted that in the last five years, Siemens has been investing about on an average of Rs 2-2.5 billion in the Indian market.
The company is looking towards bidding for metro rail systems, signaling, locomotives, light rails, rail electrification systems and projects under the Dedicated Freight Corridor. On the large bullet train project, the company is working with the Railways for a feasibility study. This is in line with one of the company's goals of looking to tap opportunities in the urban transport systems space.
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