The Finance Ministry on Tuesday indicated the possibility of providing cash to fuel retailers for the revenue loss incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost instead of the existing mechanism of issuing oil bonds.
Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the launch of an e-platform ‘NTREES’ for trade receivables here, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said: “We would ideally want to provide [for revenue loss] in the budget and not give oil bonds because either way, it’s indirectly or directly part of the fiscal…
“So there is no great need or a rationale in giving oil bonds to oil marketing companies.”
At the function, Mr. Chawla launched the trade receivables engine for e-discounting. Besides easing the bill discounting process, the trading platform helps in resolving the problems faced by suppliers, particularly the medium, small and micro enterprises. The electronic trading platform, set up jointly by SIDBI and the NSE, is expected to address the liquidity issues of MSMEs.
