Do Not See Govt Slapping, Windfall Tax: ONGC

The government is not looking to impose any new tax on windfall gains that oil and gas producers earned from shooting energy prices, India's top producer ONGC said Monday. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) reported bumper profits in the March quarter (when international prices soared to a near 14-year high of USD 139 per barrel) and record earnings in 2021-22, triggering talks of the government slapping a windfall tax. "We have not received any communication on this," ONGC chairman and managing director Alka Mittal told a news conference here.

Last week, Oil India Ltd (OIL) Chairman SC Mishra stated the same. "The government has been conveying to us to go aggressively on (oil and gas) exploration and production spending so as to augment domestic output and cut import reliance," Mittal said. While the government earns 65-66 paise in taxes on every rupee that ONGC earns, the remaining is ploughed back into finding more oil and gas.