Publisher's Note

As we prepare to go to press with this issue of “Machinery Lubrication India”, we hear about the government’s proposal to merge several public sector oil companies to form one behemoth. This will have its pros and cons and needs to be debated and discussed with all the stake holders before being implemented. Whilst on one hand the size and turnover of the proposed “Indian Oil Giant” could take on the likes of Exxon & Shell etc. in terms of economies of scale, but given India’s experience in handling big public sector companies like Coal India and SAIL etc would have many wonder if this is indeed the right step the government is contemplating. This may in fact lead to cheeping in inefficiencies and scuttle productivity gains across the board.

There is certainly a case for oil companies to rationalise investments across the value chain, right from exploration and production (E&P) of hydrocarbons, and on to refining and marketing of petroleum products. Indeed, oil refiners and marketers like IOC, BPCL and HPCL have in recent years acquired several E&P blocks both at home and abroad, and upstream specialist ONGC has also revved up its presence in refining and petrochemicals.

It is very much in the national interest to boost productivity, efficiency and innovativeness across oil segments and a single behemoth entity would simply be too huge a disincentive to rationalise expenses and seek synergy. We are set to become the third-largest consumer of petro-products – most of it imported – and instead of promoting a wholly questionable monopoly, it makes perfect sense to step-up competitiveness and openness so as to improve throughput and logistics in our vast oil economy.

It is also a fact that there is path breaking paradigm shift underway in energy and transportation, and oil products are not expected to remain the main automotive fuel in the foreseeable future. The government needs to read the writing on the wall and overhaul market design in oil. It actually needs to unlock shareholder value and gainfully divest in the oil sector for a more competitive marketplace. In parallel, instead of effectively ring fencing the lucrative oil marketing and retailing segment only for the oil companies, we need to open it up for independent retailers, as in the mature markets abroad. The stateowned oil majors seem very smug about the future and spend precious little on research and development and renewable energy. A far greater monopoly would only make matters worse.

This issue also has a User’s Guide on “Best Solutions to Top 5 Hydraulic Mistakes”. This will help our readers to find best solutions to their questions related to hydraulic breakdowns. Wishing our advertisers and readers a Happy Independence Day.

Udey Dhir