The ministry, however, clarified that there was no change in the prices of kerosene and LPG.
For the second time in as many months, the Government on Wednesday night cut petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.
Petroleum minister Murli Deora discussed the idea of levy of $0.20 per million British thermal unit as cess on natural gas to mop up Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) annually for laying down the gas pipeline network with CEOs of state-run firms. The brainstorming session called to chalk out the 100-day plan for the new government also decided on launching a new Scheme of Rural LPG Distributor (Gramin LPG Vitrak), petroleum secretary R S Pandey said.
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,449, up 112 points. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,852 stocks traded, 2,147 advanced while 649 declined.
The event brings to fruition the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'mandir' movement that defined its politics for three decades and took it to the heights of power.
India has asked oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise crude oil production to stem the relentless rise in international oil prices that have threatened to derail import dependent economies such as India.
After 47 years in electoral politics, Union minister Sharad Pawar on Monday became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
Adversity often brings out the best in companies, even state-owned ones. Faced with a bloated fuel bill, companies are busy devising new ways to control costs. These range from cut in travel to shift to cheaper fuels and even reduced recruitment. Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has a brand new strategy in place -- it will set up onsite fabrication units rather than transport equipment over long distances.
In what could be a Diwali gift for the common man, government on Thursday said in the Lok Sabha that an announcement on reduction of fuel prices will be made within a week, keeping in view the falling global crude prices.
Dabhol is part of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd.
A decision on raising retail fuel prices and partly compensating revenue losses of oil firms will be taken by Saturday (May 31), even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday assessed the problems caused by the spike in crude prices.
As crude oil prices hover around four-year lows, the government may look at slashing diesel prices further that will help cool inflation by lowering goods transportation charges.
The Energy Co-ordination Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would meet on Tuesday with gas pricing, gas sourcing and gas allocation as the main topics on the agenda, an official source said.
India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Asif said they had made "significant progress" in bilateral talks on the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline and were determined to go ahead with it despite reported reservations of the US on the project. They said the two sides had reached a broad agreement on principles for deciding the transportation tariff and transit fee, two key issues that had held up the finalisation of the 2,600-km pipeline.
The legendary Seshan was not keeping good health for the past couple of years and he passed away at about 9.30 pm, a senior police official told PTI.
The fall in international oil prices has resulted in handsome margins for state-owned firms on petrol and diesel sales, but not all of it would be reflected in the cut in the retail selling price, as Finance Ministry wants to take away some of the gain by raising excise duty.
India on Monday said it will meet Pakistan next week to resolve issues, such as transit fee, impeding progress on the over $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, even as it gets formally inducted in a rival line from Turkmenistan.
India, which imports 73 per cent of its oil needs, has been hit by the surge in international crude oil prices that touched $96 a barrel last week. State-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are currently losing Rs 240 crore (Rs 2.4 billion) per day on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene as the government has not allowed them to raise retail prices in line with the surge in cost.
On December 5, the government had announced a Rs 5 per litre and Rs 2 a litre reduction in petrol and diesel prices, respectively, as global crude prices hovered around four year lows.
Milind Deora and Nilotpal Basu debate whether middle-class activism has made politicians irrelevent
The government has cut petrol price by Rs 5 and diesel by 2 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.
Kerosene and domestic LPG prices in India are the lowest in South Asia, while the rates for petrol and diesel are comparable with its neighbours, petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Thursday. Kerosene in Pakistan costs Rs 34.89 a litre, Rs 30.53 in Bangladesh, Rs 21.26 in Sri Lanka and Rs 34.35 per litre in Nepal.
The government will cut petrol and diesel prices after Assembly elections are over on December 24, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.
Iran on Tuesday indicated that it may be willing to change the delivery point of gas it wants to sell to India through a pipeline passing through Pakistan, but wanted New Delhi and Islamabad to decide quickly on the $7.4 billion project.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has announced that the cabinet will soon take a decision on fuel price hike.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed the Rs 225,040 crore (Rs 2250.40 billion) revenue loss oil PSUs face without raising price of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and duty cuts this fiscal on three occasions but failed to give a clear verdict.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have used a mix of charm and roguish coercion to let India know that he expected the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal to become a reality in 45 days. But India is in no hurry to take a decision, a top Cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance government said. The volatile political environment in Iran and Pakistan has as much weightage now and the UPA government is becoming more reluctant.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is in talks with Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation for investing in refineries and petrochemical plants in the country.
GAIL has already been appointed as the nodal agency for the pipeline in India.
The alliance won 41 of the 48 seats leaving the Congress-NCP combine with just 5 seats.
Taking Indo-Chinese co-operation in the oil sector a step forward, the country's biggest oil refiner and retailer, Indian Oil Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with integrated Chinese national oil company Sinopec.
Crude oil prices have fallen to below $113 a barrel this week from all-time high of $147 per barrel witnessed last month. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $109.88 per barrel, down from $119 a barrel price on June 4 when petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas prices were raised.
Indian Oil Corporation has developed an indigenous technology that can double LPG production in refineries, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Thursday.
Iraq has invited Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner, to set up refineries in the war-torn country, and also participate in other downstream projects, a government statement said.
ONGC Videsh Ltd has much riding on $150 million investment plans in gas and oil exploration that Petroleum Minister Murli Deora says is critical for India's energy security. But apart from this, Myanmar apparently offers rich potential in engineering, fertilisers, tourism and pharmaceuticals for the private sector.
Monday's meeting of the empowered group of ministers on pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin has proved inconclusive.
GoM meeting regarding petro product price hike has been postponed and a decision on the prices will come only after Jan 28.
With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
He sought oil bonds from the finance ministry to cover 57.1 per cent of the total Rs 77,000 crore losses suffered by the oil companies in 2007-08.
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