Major General S C N Jatar, who passed into the ages on Monday night, thwarted anti-national forces at the peak of the Assam agitation. Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) salutes this officer and gentleman.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday reported a 7.4 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit, as its retail business rebounded and telecom earnings rose. Its consolidated net profit of Rs 18,540 crore, or Rs 13.70 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal (FY25) - compared to Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 12.76 a share, in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
CNG price in the national capital and adjoining cities on Tuesday was hiked by Rs 0.50 per kg, while an imminent increase in petrol and diesel price has been put on wait-and-watch mode for more clarity on global oil prices. CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 57.51 per kg from Rs 56.51, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital. Following the firming up of international gas rates, IGL has been raising CNG rates by up to 50 paise (Rs 0.50) per kg periodically. Prices have gone up by about Rs 4 per kg this year alone.
Experts feel oil prices will remain volatile with an upward bias.
Continuing its fall for the third consecutive week, inflation dipped to 6.73 per cent for the week ended December 11, mainly due to cheaper vegetables and fuels, after remaining over 7 per cent since July.
The government expects indirect tax collection to be lower than the Budget Estimate (BE) of Rs 13.38 trillion this fiscal year, despite prospects of netting goods and services tax (GST) in large amounts, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj has said. "Indirect tax collection may see lower realisation than budgeted on account of cuts in excise and customs duties. "We could see a shortfall of about Rs 1.5 trillion on account of those," he told Business Standard.
The government has slashed allocation of natural gas used for LPG production, and diverted the low-priced fuel to city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd to meet a part of their requirement for CNG/piped cooking gas supplies, according an official order. The government had in October and November last year cut supplies of low-priced natural gas coming from old fields such as Mumbai High and Bassein fields in the Bay of Bengal, to city gas retailers by as much as 40 per cent in view of limited output.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought Rs 446 crore worth of domestic stocks on Thursday and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 49.68 crore, provisional data available with BSE suggested.
Mustard seed and soybean prices at NCDEX counter opened on a negative note following the news of stock limit on edible oils and food grains. Besides the domestic development, sluggish global market also affected Indian futures prices, an analyst at Hyderabad-based Karvy Comtrade told PTI.
The decision to deregulate the diesel prices is expected to bring the oil subsidy down Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion), the agency said, adding the ongoing correction in global crude prices will also result in sizable gains for the government.
Re-instatement of 5% custom duty on crude imports will help.
618 companies were part of the billion dollar club when the markets reached all-time highs on September 26, 2024. That number has fallen to 500 following a $1 trillion wipeout in India's market capitalisation amid relentless selling by FPIs.
Diesel rates were cut by 40 paisa to Rs 68.89 a litre. With this, the reduction in rates in last six weeks totals Rs 9.26 per litre on petrol and Rs 7.2 per litre on diesel.
The government is likely to provide a subsidy of Rs 35,000 crore to state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) to make up for losses they incurred on selling the fuel this fiscal, sources said.
After climbing to a record high of Rs 523 on September 30, shares of commodity major Vedanta have come off over 15 per cent amid a fall in the overall markets. The Anil Agarwal-led firm's latest slump comes after its stock price doubled over the past one year. Is it a blip or a trend reversal?
Benchmark Brent oil futures prices more than halved between June 2014 and January 2015.
The government on Friday cut the windfall profit tax on locally produced crude oil in line with a fall in international rates, and reduced the levy on export of diesel and jet fuel (ATF). At the fifth fortnightly review, the government reduced tax on domestically-produced crude oil to Rs 10,500 per tonne from Rs 13,300 per tonne. The levy on the export of diesel was reduced to Rs 10 per litre from Rs 13.5. Also, the tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports was cut to Rs 5 a litre from Rs 9 with effect from September 17, according to a finance ministry notification issued late Friday night.
The government will release revised growth estimates for the current financial year by the end of June.
With Iran reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme, India is expected to be one of the major gainers.
The Sensex ended down 251 points at 27,351 and the Nifty shed 65 points to close at 8,228.
IOC along with HPCL and BPCL took a hit of about Rs 4,500 crore from absorbing Re 1 a litre hike.
Changes in global oil and gas rates matter more to India's economy than other major economies because the country imports around 87 per cent of its oil, half of its gas in the form of LNG, and over 60 per cent of its LPG.
Petrol currently costs Rs 72.51 per litre in Delhi.
India and the US are likely to agree on an interim trade agreement before July 8 with New Delhi pushing for full exemption from the 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on domestic goods, an official said. The US on April 2 imposed an additional 26 per cent reciprocal tariff on Indian goods but suspended it for 90 days till July 9.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Wednesday hinted at reduction in prices of petrol and diesel in step with the fall in international oil prices, at the next fortnightly review due on April 15.
Additionally, road cess on petrol was raised by Re 1 per litre each on petrol and diesel to Rs 10.
The middle income group has been impacted by inflation particularly in context of falling The rupee and its cascading effects on price rise of items like petroleum products and edible oil, according to a survey by apex chamber Assocham.
The rupee slipped 13 paise to 77.67 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by the surge in crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.65 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 77.67, registering a fall of 13 paise from the last close. On Monday, the rupee settled at 77.54 against the US dollar.
Jet fuel price in Delhi was cut by Rs 974 per kilolitre or 2.5 per cent to Rs 37,982 per kl effective midnight on Monday, an official of the Indian Oil Corporation, said.
In three reductions, the price of non-subsidised cooking gas has been cut by Rs 277 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
Investors' wealth tumbled Rs 86,741.74 crore on Wednesday, mirroring weakness in the global equity markets amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The BSE benchmark Sensex slumped 1,227.18 points to 55,020.10 during the day in line with a global selloff. It finally settled at 55,468.90, lower by 778.38 points or 1.38 per cent. Surging crude prices and foreign capital outflows also weighed on investor sentiment.
The bulls are faced with tough times, thanks to concerns pertaining to high inflation, rising input costs and earnings deceleration among other factors.
The Indian benchmark remained static in its last closing on May 28, while Brent prices dropped further to $75.71 a barrel. Less Brent crude in Indian basket makes prices sticky.
eclined for the third month in a row in January, falling by 2.38 per cent year-on-year to $36.43 billion, while the trade deficit widened to $22.99 billion in the month. Imports rose by 10.28 per cent year-on-year to $59.42 billion in January due to an increase gold shipments, according to the Commerce Ministry data. The trade deficit was $21.94 billion in December and $16.55 billion in January last year.
It's time to step on the reforms accelerator.
State-owned oil firms have decided to "wait-and-watch" the international scenario and the rupee-dollar rate before deciding to cut petrol prices.
Oil prices have already fallen over 70 per cent since the downturn began in mid-2014.
The prospect of further falls in remittances is a hindrance for the Reserve Bank of India, as it seeks to bullet-proof the economy against sudden capital outflows
The rupee depreciated by 22 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 79.48 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a strong greenback overseas and subdued domestic equities. However, receding crude oil prices in the international market restricted the rupee's loss, forex traders said. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened weak at 79.30 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 79.24 and a low of 79.49.
