IndianOil Corp Ltd, for instance, saw a growth of around 22 per cent in volumes and nearly two per cent in its market share. It traded nearly 10,517 million tonnes (mt) of auto gas in December against 8,593 mt of auto gas in September.
Government has begun drawing contingency plans to avert any shortage of domestic cooking gas as a result of go-slow agitation by employees of the country's largest oil company Indian Oil Corp.
The Oil Ministry will raise the cap on supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) to 9 cylinders per household in a year provided the Finance Ministry agrees to give an additional Rs 3,000 crore in 2012-13.
The scarcity of resources is particularly evident in the case of Rajasthan compared to many other states.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik Friday indicated that prices of domestic cooking gas may be hiked before the Budget to check growing subsidies but said consumer interest will be kept in mind while taking any such decision.
A decision on raising diesel prices by Rs 3-5 per litre, kerosene by Rs 2 and LPG by up to Rs 50 per cylinder will be taken after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi returns from US, top government officials said.
The smaller cylinders will be sold at market rates.
Truck drivers protesting against a provision in the new penal law on hit-and-run road accidents, called off their strike in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Tuesday after the local authorities assured to look into their demands.
The remarks came after former President Ram Nath Kovind was tasked with the responsibility of heading a committee to explore feasibility of "one nation, one election".
The Reserve Bank on Friday retained the inflation forecast for 2023-24 at 5.4 per cent, and vowed to take timely measures to prevent any spillovers of global food and fuel price shocks. Stressing that the Reserve Bank has identified high inflation as a major risk to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the September retail inflation number may be lower than August and July prints. The headline inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) moderated to 4.6 per cent in first quarter of 2023-24 as compared to 7.3 per cent in the same period a year ago.
This is prime minister's second visit to Bhutan and the first since his re-election.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked all chief ministers to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to mitigate the impact of the price hike on the common man.
Expectations are that the government will use the Union Budget to create an environment, which is conducive for growth.
The company, which is also looking to strengthen its position in the sports utility segment, today launched the automatic transmission four-wheel drive version of its popular sports utility vehicle Captiva, priced at Rs 20.3 lakhs (Rs 2.03 million). He said the company will be launching an LPG-driven car in the first half of this year, without specifying details, adding it would be followed by other LPG vehicles.
The government's three key allies Samajwadi Party, RJD and DMK along with Left parties and BJP on Friday demanded reduction of diesel and LPG prices in view of the decrease in the cost of international crude by nearly $100 over last few months.
The Indian Oil Corporation has taken a hit of about Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in the first quarter of the current fiscal on selling subsidised LPG and Kerosene below the cost.
'There are occasions when the prices of individual items like food raise inflation; then supply-side measures must be taken.' 'But if there is continued inflation, it means liquidity is aggravating the situation.'
Domestic LPG prices may go up by Rs 22-25 per cylinder this week as oil companies push for a hike in retail selling price in view of Budget 2003-04 lowering subsidy provision for cooking gas and PDS kerosene.
Margins for the oil refining and retailing sector have moved off their peaks, and the average integrated margins (refining plus marketing) for oil marketing companies (OMCs) have normalised. The ascent in crude oil prices, combined with static retail prices, has depressed marketing margins for diesel and petrol. However, the fall in marketing margins has been offset by increased gross refining margins (GRMs).
Oil Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday said his ministry is not in favour of raising diesel and domestic LPG prices as response to spurt in global crude oil prices, as the move will add to already high inflation rate.
In order to end use of kerosene -- which often does not reach the intended beneficiaries -- the Delhi government on Tuesday launched an ambitious scheme, where about 3.5 lakh BPL and poor families will get free LPG cylinders and gas stoves.
The government has set up a committee to work out sharing by producers and retailers the losses likely to accrue from the decision to freeze LPG and kerosene price for a year despite rising cost.\n\n\n\n
The Union government is likely to cut import duties on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to cushion the impact of high international crude oil prices on the domestic market.
Notwithstanding the robust turnaround in the financial performance for the June quarter (Q1FY24), stocks of state-run oil marketing companies have been in a downtrend in the last month. The fall comes on a rise in crude oil prices that have surged to a 7-month high of $88 a barrel. A busy political calendar in the months ahead that may see the government keep a lid on auto fuel prices is also a dampener, analysts said. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) have shed 9-11 per cent since their respective earnings announcement between July 26 to August 4.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Friday said oil companies will revise prices of domestic LPG only after Finance Minister Jaswant Singh replied to the Budget debate in Lok Sabha on Tuesday next.\n
Price of petrol may go up by Rs 4.70 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.30 a litre.
Reliance Industries on Monday said its city gas would be cheaper by almost 33 per cent compared to liquefied petroleum gas being supplied by oil PSUs.
Gandhi also raised the issue of rising prices of LPG cylinders and said crores of beneficiaries of the Ujjawala scheme are not able to afford a refill.
The fire broke out in an area near the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored.
The recent government decision to restrict supply of subsidised cooking gas cylinders to six per year to each household will see consumption for fuel decline to 4.1 per cent in second half of the fiscal, a report by think-tank CMIE said.
Cooking gas price was on Saturday hiked by Rs 11.42 per cylinder following government decision to raise commission paid to the dealers.
The poll panel has asked state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to respond to the notices by 3 pm on Thursday and 7 pm on Friday, respectively.
The Tihar jail authorities expect the network, which will carry gas to jail kitchens, to be laid out by April and this will cost about Rs 60 lakh, Director General (Prisons) B K Gupta told reporters. "LPG cylinders are widely used by prisoners during riots in jails and we want to avoid such incidents," he said. During the January 7 jail riots in a Jalandhar prison, the inmates threw LPG cylinders into the fire but luckily, these did not explode.
