ONGC shares close down 6.71

In terms of volume,over one crore shares of the company changed hands on the bourses. Meanwhile,the BSE bellwether Sensex lost 207.68 points to settle at 18,137.35.

ONGC shares close down on subsidy burden

Early in the day,shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corp lost nearly 6 percent after it was reported that the government has increased upstream share to 38.5 percent of total subsidy burden of about 779.22 billion rupees for FY11,three dealers said.

If the reports are true,higher subsidy burden will hamper ONGC8217;s profitability in a major way,said a head of research at a local brokerage.

At 10.17 a.m.,shares of ONGC were down 5.5 percent to 281.15 rupees.