Sources aware of the development said as part of the project, the airline had signed an agreement with Reliance Industries Ltd, which would extend quality control services at its coastal terminals for ATF imported by the airline.
With fewer passengers airlines bracing for a rise in operating costs due to a spike in crude prices
Govt says domestic carriers' financial health a concern.
Seeking permission for direct import of jet fuel, Kingfisher Airlines has informed the government that steps are being taken to improve cash flow of the debt-ridden carrier by procuring ATF through suppliers' credit on lower interest rates.
Petrofed, a body representing both public and private sector companies like Indian Oil Corp and Reliance Industries, has written to the government seeking inclusion of crude oil, petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel and natural gas in the goods and services tax that is likely to come into effect from next year.
But demand has shown signs of pick up in the last 10 days of April after the government allowed resumption of economic activity beyond the urban municipal limit.
India's petrol and diesel sales fell by about 17 per cent in May from a month ago as restrictions clamped to curb the world's worst outbreak of coronavirus infections stifled demand. Sales of petrol -- used in cars and motorcycles -- fell to 1.79 million tonne in May, the lowest in a year, according to the preliminary data of state-owned fuel retailers. While the consumption was almost 13 per cent higher than demand in May 2020, it was 28 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels of 2.49 million tonne.
National oil companies are staring at inventory losses as they have to bring down refinery throughputs because of the plunging demand for fuels following the nationwide lockdown to contain the deadly coronavirus infection. India is the world's third-largest energy consumer but the lockdown has shut businesses, suspended flights, stopped trains and brought almost the entire vehicular movement to a halt, impacting fuel demand.
Scheduled international passenger flights have remained suspended since March 23, 2020 in the wake of the pandemic and they will now restart from Sunday.
Jet fuel (ATF) rates were on slashed by a steep 12.5 per cent, the sixth straight reduction in prices since August, as international oil prices slumped to five-year low levels.
With indications that government is keen to allow foreign airlines buy stakes in Indian carriers, a Group of Ministers (GoM) is likely to meet next week to decide on the investment cap by them, official sources said on Friday.
Jet fuel (ATF) prices have been hiked by a steep 6.9 per cent, taking the rates to lifetime high of Rs 75,031 per kilolitre.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 60 paisa per litre on Monday, for the second day in a row, as State-owned oil firms reverted to daily price revisions after an 83-day hiatus. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 72.46 per litre from Rs 71.86 on Sunday, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 70.59 a litre from Rs 69.99, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
The Indian economy requires a Rs 3 lakh crore fiscal stimulus, including cash transfer to households through Jan Dhan accounts to spur economic growth amid the pandemic, industry chamber CII said on Thursday and pitched for appointment of a 'Vaccine Czar' for speedy vaccination coverage. CII president T V Narendran also said the chamber expects GDP to grow at 9.5 per cent in 2021-22 as the strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year will be supported by robust external demand and large-scale coverage of vaccination, allowing resumption of economic activity. He also advocated for appointment of a "Vaccine Czar" for speedy vaccination coverage.
AirAsia, which is a joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd, TelestraTradeplace currently flies from Bengaluru to Chennai, Kochi, Goa and vice versa.
'This is a huge step in promoting the 'Make in India' mission as this bio-fuel would be produced from Tree Borne Oils sourced from tribal areas and farmers.'
ATF price in Delhi was reduced by Rs 4,765.5 per kilolitre (kl), or 11.9 per cent.
ATF or jet fuel price has been cut marginally while rate of non-subsidised cooking gas LPG has been hiked by Rs 27.50 a cylinder.
Airlines say ATF fuel prices in India are 40 per cent higher than in countries such as Singapore. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra
Made from Jatropha crop, the fuel has been developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.
Petrol price on Thursday was cut by Rs 6.07 per litre and diesel price by Rs 11.75 in Delhi as oil companies passed on a record reduction in excise duty rates to consumers. Buckling under pressure, the government had on Wednesday cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre to give reprieve to consumers battered by record high retail fuel prices. Since states charge local sales tax or VAT not just on the base price but also on the excise duty levied by the centre, the total incidence of price reduction is higher.
Falling jet fuel prices, stable rupee signal lower losses
In Mumbai, jet fuel will cost Rs 72,830.64 per kl from tomorrow as against Rs 68,103.26 per kl at present.
The increases have snapped a six fortnight trend of reduction in rates.
The price of non-subsidised LPG, which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, was raised by Rs 16.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder, the first hike in six months.
In a thread of tweets, Mallya claimed, "The airlines struggled financially partly because of high ATF prices. Kingfisher was a fab airline that faced the highest ever crude prices of $ 140/barrel. Losses mounted and that's where banks money went. I have offered to repay 100 % of the principal amount to them. Please take it."
Taxes on ATF in India are among world's highest, and are seen as key reason for mounting losses of airlines.
In a meeting with stakeholders last week, the authority mooted setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle along with airlines and state-owned oil marketing companies to develop common infrastructure to import ATF, among others, at Chennai and Kolkata airports. While AAI and OMCs will hold 76 per cent in the proposed SPV, the airlines will participate in the remaining 24 per cent equity.
With jet fuel prices hiked by 2.5 per cent, Jet Airways on Friday increased fuel surcharge on its tickets by Rs 200 with effect from tomorrow, raising airfares.
Jet Airways on followed its smaller rival SpiceJet and hiked fares by a steep 25 per cent to mitigate the impact of the sharp fall in the rupee value and a near 15 per cent spike in oil prices of late.
Athletics continued to be India's achilles' heel in its anti-doping campaign, accounting for 21 of the 71 positive tests recorded by the National Anti-Doping Agency in the last one year, according to the latest WADA report.
The demand for black oils and specialty products like fuel oil, bitumen, petcoke and sulphur has also shown marked improvement, facilitating increase of refineries throughput.
Jet fuel constitutes over 40 per cent of an airline's operating costs and the price cut will bring relief to the cash-strapped carriers.
The Union government has collected Rs 94,181 crore through levy of excise duty on petrol and diesel in the first three months of the current fiscal on the back of a record tax on fuel that yielded 88 per cent higher revenue the previous financial year, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. Excise duty on petrol was hiked from Rs 19.98 per litre to Rs 32.9 last year to recoup gain arising from international oil prices plunging to multi-year low as pandemic gulped demand. The same on diesel was raised to Rs 31.8 from Rs 15.83 a litre, according to a written reply by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli in the Lok Sabha. This led to excise collections on petrol and diesel jumping to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021), from Rs 1.78 lakh crore a year back, he said.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday said the state has already slashed Value Added Tax on Air Turbine Fuel refuelled in the state from 22 percent to mere 12.5 per cent.
ATF in Delhi will cost Rs 56,324.79 per kilolitre, an increase of Rs 77.93 per litre or 0.13 per cent, from Rs 56,246.86 per kl, an official of the Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest fuel retailer said.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, positioned adequate stocks of all petroleum products -- petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG in the state.
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