Forex

Public sector oil exploration major ONGC said, it is receptive to the idea of windfall profit tax on oil companies.

The Left parties have put a demand of windfall profit tax on oil companies following a rise in crude oil prices.

ONGC Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma told media that the way crude oil prices were going up, many countries had imposed their own tax. "We will be happy to share windfall profit tax," he said.

Calling for removal of subsidies, he said they should be eliminated. It was better to have ad valorem cess for crude which would be more transparent.

The ONGC had suggested to the B K Chaturvedi committee to make it ad valorum. "We will be happy with that mechanism rather than sharing only profits," he said.

The committee was yet to submit its report. ONGC had made some recommendations, he said without elaborating.

Part of the increase in burden on fuel prices should be imposed on consumers as there was no economization in the demand for petroleum products, Sharma said.

As against the annual global increase of 1.2 per cent in petroleum demand, the country was witnessing a 4.5 per cent increase, while demand for diesel has gone up by 20-25 per cent.

Defending the Indo-US nuclear deal, he said atomic energy was an economic necessity. India with 17 per cent of global population had only 0.5 per cent of total hydro carbon resources in the world. So the nuclear deal was an economic necessity, he said.