With Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi making a strong pitch for raising LPG cap, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Friday said the quota of subsidised cooking cylinders will be hiked to 12 from 9 per household.
The Cabinet may on Thursday take a decision on the draft Bill for setting up the coal regulatory authority.
Earlier this week, the ministry had come out with a clarification, saying domestic gas producers had to stick to the earlier price of $4.2 a unit until a further notification from the new government.
Oil Ministry felt it did not have a clear mandate to reduce rates post the January 2013 decision of the Cabinet to raise prices by 40-50 paisa a litre every month.
Data on primary and fuel items would continue to be released on weekly basis.
Amidst Finance Ministry raising prospects of forcing Reliance Industries to sell gas at old price of $4.2, Oil Minister M Veerapa Moily on Thursday said there was no rethinking in the government on the decision to double gas rates from April 1, 2014.
Government has approved follow-on public offer of Power Finance Corporation worth Rs. 5,732 crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs may consider slashing customs duty on petrol and diesel from 15 per cent to 10 per cent.
The Ministry in a draft Cabinet note proposed accepting in toto the Rangarajan Committee recommendation of pricing domestically produced natural gas at an average of international hub prices and cost of imported LNG instead of present mechanism of market discovery.
The decision will help farmers earn an additional income of Rs 62,635 crore
By the time vital decisions, such as importing foodgrain, get implemented, it is often too late.
Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices for considering options to tame rising inflation, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday the government is looking at further cuts in duties on import of essential commodities. "Yes, we are looking at further cuts. There is increase in international oil prices and it has to be met with import duty caliberation which we are considering," Nath told reporters in New Delhi.
Post-sale, the government stake would be 75 per cent, which will help NTPC to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms.
According to a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices will consider the above elements while recommending the MSP. The CACP, an advisory body under the agriculture ministry, recommends MSPs of over 20 crops, including wheat and rice.
The Cabinet Committee on Prices is likely to ban exports of steel and steel products. The other measures being considered include levying an ad-valorem duty on iron ore exports and bringing down the excise duty on steel to 8% from the current level of 14%. Steel ministry is considering many steps to bring down steel prices. Also, reimbursement of service tax on foreign agents used by exporters will be further increased. Ban on exports is not the only solution, experts say.
The Department of Telecom gearing up for the 3G spectrum auction as per schedule on January 30 and has left it to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to take a call on the reserve price for a pan-India 3G licence.
Randeep Surjewala also accused the government of "doublespeak" and "sacrificing" national interests.
Ministry to propose a new subsidy mechanism to cap upstream firms' share.
The Cabinet Committee on Divestment on Tuesday approved the proposed strategic sale of 51 per cent of equity in Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd in which the government has a stake of 92.5 per cent.
On Tuesday, Modi will share his views with India Inc on 'Getting growth back'.
The extent of the government's concern about inflation was evident at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices, which started at 8 pm on Monday and went on past 12 midnight. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath challenged Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to explain why wheat import this season had been delayed.
A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was specially convened this morning to consider OVL's Imperial bid, as Tuesday is the last date for making the offer to the target company's shareholders. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting that had just one agenda and lasted one-and-half hours, but no official word was available.
A brief report card on Modi's ministers.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) might be denied a higher gas price from its D1 and D3 fields until the arbitration process with the government is over and a third-party expert report on the fall in output at the KG-D6 block is out.
A meeting of the Congress Working Committee, to be held on August 19, is scheduled to discuss price rise and drought. But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already held intensive discussions with chief ministers from across India and senior ministers in his Cabinet on drought, price rise and the measures that need to be taken by the government to minimise the effects of drought.It was initially decided that the CWC would be held last week.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence in Delhi on Monday night. The CCP approved ban on export of non-basmati rice with immediate effect and decided to extend the ban on pulses export for one more year from Monday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that lasted over three hours.
He also called out Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman for changing her stance on revealing the cost of Rafale.
A Cabinet panel has allowed futures trading in 54 commodities including rice, wheat, pulses, oils, oilseeds, spices and metals, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
The government is likely to invite the financial bids for divestment of ICVL, in the last week of February.
The government on Thursday cleared the long-awaited sale of the UTI Asset Management Company to three state-owned banks and the LIC at a price of Rs 1,237 crore.
The new rates, which are likely to be at $8-8.4 against the current price of $4.2 per million British thermal unit, are based on the recommendations of a committee that was appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the request of Moily's predecessor, S Jaipal Reddy.
The government on Thursday fixed the Minimum Support Price for rabi crops, raising the MSP for pulses and oilseeds up to Rs 30 per quintal and leaving that for wheat unchanged at Rs 620 a quintal.
Cabinet may tweak Rangarajan formula; new price may be further delayed.
Amid a spate of government proposals at its door, the Election Commission has asked all Union government departments to route their proposals through the Cabinet Secretariat.
Petroleum ministry rejects conclusions of two reports ahead of EGoM.
