The Reserve Bank on Friday retained the inflation forecast for 2023-24 at 5.4 per cent, and vowed to take timely measures to prevent any spillovers of global food and fuel price shocks. Stressing that the Reserve Bank has identified high inflation as a major risk to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the September retail inflation number may be lower than August and July prints. The headline inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) moderated to 4.6 per cent in first quarter of 2023-24 as compared to 7.3 per cent in the same period a year ago.
The government is likely to extend by two more years subsidies on LPG and kerosene while asking the state-run oil firms to bear part of the Rs 14,000 crore under-recoveries due to unchanged prices despite a rise in the cost of raw material.
Cooking gas distributors are threatening to go on strike on October 1, opposing the restriction on sale of subsidised cylinders.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
The cap on cylinders would burden the Centre, which will need to compensate the states for the increased cooking fuel cost.
Air fares to go up as ATF price is hiked by 8.2%.
The remarks came after former President Ram Nath Kovind was tasked with the responsibility of heading a committee to explore feasibility of "one nation, one election".
A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder that consumers will have to buy after they exhaust their enhanced quota of 9 subsidised bottles in a year, will cost Rs 942 from today, according to Indian Oil Corporation.
The government said on Tuesday that oil marketing companies are considering price revision of domestic LPG due to increase in international prices.\n\n\n\n
The saving in 2015-16 was about Rs 7,000 crore.
In a much relief to the common man, Oil Minister Veerppa Moily said that the cap on subsidised liquefied petroleum cylinders is to go up to 9 in a year.
Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and Left MPs stormed into the Well of the House, saying the people were being cheated.
With a high-powered ministerial panel on fuel pricing being scrapped, a cabinet committee may consider raising the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy indicated on Wednesday but refused to say when the issue would be taken up.
The ministry is preparing a draft note for consideration of the CCPA on pricing of diesel, kerosene and LPG, official sources said.
'There are occasions when the prices of individual items like food raise inflation; then supply-side measures must be taken.' 'But if there is continued inflation, it means liquidity is aggravating the situation.'
The government may give poor people LPG stoves free of cost as part of its blueprint to expand domestic cooking gas coverage to at least three-fourth of the population.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of the saffron forces and also the country being placed firmly on a new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
RPL, a unit of Reliance Industries, had sought nod to export the entire liquefied petroleum gas production in the six months to fully commissioning its 580,000-barrels per day refinery in the Jamnagar special economic zone. RPL, in which US energy major Chevron Corp has 5 per cent stake, is likely to start producing fuel from the unit being set up adjacent to parent firm's existing 660,000 bpd refinery at Jamnagar in the next few weeks.
With the government preparing to restrict the number of subsidised cooking cylinders, oil marketing companies have launched a 'transparency' portal that allows customers to keep an eye on the number of cylinders sold in their account by the dealer.
Margins for the oil refining and retailing sector have moved off their peaks, and the average integrated margins (refining plus marketing) for oil marketing companies (OMCs) have normalised. The ascent in crude oil prices, combined with static retail prices, has depressed marketing margins for diesel and petrol. However, the fall in marketing margins has been offset by increased gross refining margins (GRMs).
The fire broke out in an area near the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored.
Six non-BJP ruled states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT on petroleum products, leading to higher prices of petrol and diesel there, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. Puri said in Lok Sabha that the central government has reduced excise duty on petroleum products and some other states, following cues, reduced their Value Added Tax (VAT). Six states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT, he said amidst vocal protests by the opposition members.
In five monthly reduction, non-domestic LPG rates have been slashed by Rs 170.5 per cylinder, bringing the price at three-year lows.
Gail India Ltd said on Monday it will set up LPG plants in Uzbekistan as part of its globalisation drive.\n\n
Notwithstanding the robust turnaround in the financial performance for the June quarter (Q1FY24), stocks of state-run oil marketing companies have been in a downtrend in the last month. The fall comes on a rise in crude oil prices that have surged to a 7-month high of $88 a barrel. A busy political calendar in the months ahead that may see the government keep a lid on auto fuel prices is also a dampener, analysts said. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) have shed 9-11 per cent since their respective earnings announcement between July 26 to August 4.
Prime minister's office wants OMCs to bear credit subsidy for remaining 8 subsidised units on reimbursement basis.
An unusual Congress protest against rising LPG prices.
There is eight per cent quota for former defence personnel and employees of central and state public-sector undertakings.
The poll panel has asked state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to respond to the notices by 3 pm on Thursday and 7 pm on Friday, respectively.
The Kelkar Committee has recommended sharp reduction in subsidies on petroleum, food and fertiliser, which the government said was contrary to its policy of protecting the poor.
In a relief to senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjay Kundu, the Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Himachal Pradesh high court direction to remove him from the post of state Director General of Police over allegations that he tried to pressure a businessman who claimed to have received a threat to his life from his partners.
In a bizarre incident, a national-level shooter recently lost his left thumb when the 10m air pistol cylinder he was filling exploded, at the Karni Singh Range.
State-run oil marketing companies on Monday raised the security deposit for new cooking gas (LPG) connections to Rs 1,250 from the existing Rs 850 per cylinder, as also the price of cylinder regulator due to increase in input costs.
The three government oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, are losing Rs 320 crore a day as they sell at subsidised rates.
Aviation Turbine Fuel, or ATF, price at Delhi was cut by Rs 3,025.34 per kilolitre, or 4 per cent, to Rs 71,800.21 per kl, according to Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer.
A day after Election Commission rap, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said the government has not yet taken any decision on raising cap on supply of subsidised LPG cylinders and the EC would have been informed before announcing any decision.
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