With the losses incurred by oil marketing companies (OMC's) on selling regulated fuels below their market prices (under-recoveries) reaching alarming levels, an urgent corrective action, like hiking the price of diesel, has become imperative, says a Crisil study.
At a time when diesel-powered vehicles have been driving sales in the country's otherwise sluggish automobile market, the industry has been hit by a double whammy.
Amongst cars sold in the mid-size category (domestic sales) between April 2007 and March 2008, diesel variants outsold petrol car models roughly in the ratio of 7:3. That means over 70 per cent of the over 1,79,493 mid-size cars sold in the domestic markets were diesel models. Diesel mid-size cars on an average are priced 15.5 per cent more than the petrol variant. Overall, the mid-size category, petrol and diesel models included, grew by 14.6 per cent.
Country's largest car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd today said it would come out with a diesel variant of one of its existing models by the end of next year equipped with engine from its diesel plant in Maneshar in Haryana.
The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane on December 2 with a blend of 15 per cent green diesel and 85 per cent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine.
Diesel price hike is a tough decision and we need lot of tough decisions to get to 8 per cent growth rate," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh told reporters.
Cement manufacturers have hiked prices after a challenging Q1FY25, and Q2FY25 (so far) when general elections and seasonal factors cut down on construction activity. The August prices are currently around 3-6 per cent above July 2024 but may not be sustainable in the face of weak demand. H2FY25 may see realisation growth which, if it happens, would drive average operating profit/tonne improvements in H2FY25 over a muted H1FY25.
From the November 2014 price of $106 per barrel crude oil prices dipped to as low as $26 per barrel in January 2016 and remained flat for much of the year. Did the fuel prices reflect that?
Diesel is 40 per cent cheaper than petrol and some of the diesel cars are 30 per cent more fuel efficient as compared to their petrol variant.
While the technology developed by the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, still faces many significant commercialisation challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of E coli bacteria is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel.
The price of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders across all categories, including subsidised LPG, was on Wednesday hiked by Rs 25 per cylinder -- the third straight increase in rates in less than two months.
OMCs are currently incurring daily under-recovery of Rs 230 crore.
The company has the largest car park in EVs in India, estimated to be around 170,000 units. As a pilot, it has already started work with used online car marketplace Spinny.
Developed in-house, the 1.5-litre engine comes mated with six-speed transmission and offers improved performance.
The price of petrol is expected to come down to Rs 84.71 a litre and diesel to Rs 77.98
Petrol and diesel prices are likely to be cut by close to Re 1 per litre this weekend on sliding global oil rates.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday expressed hope that domestic diesel prices will soon become market linked in the backdrop of softening global crude oil rates.
Lower fuel subsidy payouts might restrict gross fiscal deficit in FY15.
Petrol, that had in April/May witnessed 11-12 per cent growth in consumption, in fact saw a six per cent fall in demand at 8,02,500 tons in June, oil ministry officials said.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings for a record 15th season during IPL 2024, starting later this month.
This is the second hike in diesel price this month.
Industry experts said the scandal could hit VW hard, just as it was emerging from a damaging leadership battle.
The demand for diesel is rising at 25 per cent annually, while the crude oil refiners are capable of catering to only 12-15 per cent growth.
The discount will be by way of cash back which will be credited to the buyer's account in three days from the transaction
As Kolkata marches towards modernity, it is hard to imagine its streets without these cabs, notes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
Many individual states experienced higher inflation than the all-India figures during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Retail inflation figures in Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been higher than national numbers every month of this financial year, shows a Business Standard analysis of state-wise figures, after the March inflation data was released on Friday. Experts noted that persistent high food inflation along with differences in the weights of rural and urban indices plays into the regional variation in inflation rates.
India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, in July bought $2.8 billion worth of crude oil from Russia, second only to China which remains the largest importer of Russian oil, a report said. Russia emerged as India's biggest supplier of crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries, after Russian oil was available on discount following some European nations shunning purchases from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
After today's reduction, petrol price has been cut by Rs 12.27 per litre cumulatively since August.
Under-recovery or the gap between retail selling price and the cost of import, this month dipped to an all-time low of 8 paise a litre, helped by the monthly increases and softening in international oil rates.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked by 24-25 paise per litre, the steepest increase since July 5 Union Budget, as a fallout of turmoil in global oil markets following drone attacks on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities.
Japanese major's idea part of strategy to double sales in emerging markets by 2017.
India needs to recognise and address challenges posed by its dependence on China for critical minerals and examine the implications of phasing down coal on bank balance sheets as it accelerates its green transition, the government's Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday said. As part of its national plan to contribute to meeting the global goal of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India has committed to reducing emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieving 50 per cent cumulative electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
A graphic showing how the average prices for petrol and diesel have moved over the last ten years.
Honda Motors has developed its own diesel power-trains.
Toyota Kirloskar Motors Limited has launched the diesel version of Toyota Corolla Altis in the country recently.
Movement of prices in international oil market and rupee-USD exchange rate will be monitored
Petrol prices on Thursday crossed Rs 73 a litre mark, the highest level since the BJP government came to power in 2014, while diesel touched a record high of Rs 64.11 a litre.
Move to be aimed at reducing subsidies on the fuel.
One of the challenges on diesel engine is refinement.
