Industry think-tank TERI has demanded an end to government dictats on pricing of petroleum products and sought subsidies on domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene to be directly provided to consumers.
While hinting that further cut in petrol and diesel prices was likely during the next revision, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Saturday ruled out any possibility of increase in prices of LPG and kerosene
Under-realisation on selling domestic LPG and kerosene through public distribution system is likely to be around Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) during the current fiscal, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Monday.
The price of non-subsidised LPG, which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, was raised to Rs 922.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi on July 1, the first hike in six months.
LPG prices will go up by Rs five per cylinder every month with the government on Tuesday saying there is no roll-back in the decision.
Two persons were killed in an accident at a LPG pipeline of state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd at Suryapet in Telangana.
It could become a giant leap towards lasting reform if the experiment in direct benefit transfers for cooking gas subsidies pans out.
The government has directed state-run fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to clear the wait list for domestic LPG connection within the next two months.
'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 oil ministry is believed to have turned down Reliance Petroleum Ltd's request to export LPG from its newly commissioned refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, forcing the only-for-exports unit to sell the cooking fuel locally.
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).
Indian Oil raised prices of commercial LPG, sold in 19 kg cylinders, to Rs 1,108.5 per cylinder on Nov 1, from Rs 1,095.24 per cylinder on Oct 1. Commercial LPG is not subsidised and oil companies revise their prices in line with international prices on the first of every month. "Commercial LPG prices are expected to go up in December too," said an IO official. But prices of automobile LPG have come down by around 5.34 per cent on Nov 1 compared with prices on Oct 1.
Limiting the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders is likely to save the government over Rs 12,000 crore in subsidy outgo annually.
Demanding a roll back of the hike in cooking gas price, that was increased by Rs 20 per cylinder yesterday, CPI (M) said the Centre's decision not to touch import duties on petroleum products will lead to an "anomalous" situation.
The Election Commission on Wednesday strongly disapproved Oil Minister Veerappa Moily's announcement of raising subsidised LPG quota ahead of Gujarat elections and asked him to be circumspect in future.
After reducing duties on petroleum products, the Centre has now asked the states to follow suit.
The proposal had to be routed through the transport department. "We were having discussions with the department and were hopeful of a mandate being passed for converting these vehicles to alternate fuel sources," said M L Meena, principal secreatary, department of environment, west Bengal.
The government should end subsidised domestic cooking gas (LPG) for people with income of more than Rs 6 lakh per annum, a Parliamentary Panel has suggested.
The state-owned refiner has offered 15,000 tonnes in a tender.
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.
The fire broke out in an area near the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored.
Congress president and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has directed all party-ruled states to subsidise three additional cylinders a year for domestic liquefied petroleum gas, raising the cap on subsidised cylinders from six to nine.
'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.
Underrecovery from sensitive petroleum products seen at Rs 1,55,000 cr in current fiscal.
In order to cripple and check the activities of wilful tax defaulters, the Income Tax department has decided to "block" Permanent Account Number (PAN) of such entities, get their LPG subsidy cancelled and take measures to ensure that they are not sanctioned loans.
Taking suo moto cognisance of reports of the Centre's move -- ahead of Gujarat assembly polls -- to increase the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders, the Election Commission has directed it to stop the same forthwith. The Commission held an emergency meeting soon after the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas M Veerappa Moily said the government will raise the cap on the supply of subsidised cooking gas to nine cylinders per household a year from six at present.
The LPG model was launched a fortnight ago. Chevrolet is now hoping to rev up the car's sales with a diesel option in June.
Now, non-subsidised liquefied petroleum gas price is hiked by Rs 26.5 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
Raise the price of diesel and restrict supply of subsidised LPG cylinder in a year to four per family, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Panel suggested on Friday.
The government on Tuesday ruled out any further increase in diesel and cooking fuel prices even though the current retail rates are lower than their cost of production.
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.
The government is mulling building a Rs 2,760 crore (Rs 27.60 billion) strategic storage facility by 2007-08 to stock 45-days requirement of liquefied petroleum gas as cover for emergencies.
A CNN-IBN Urban India Ooinion Poll shows the recent economic reform move of the government has not gone down well with the urban India. The poll shows that while the price rise and corruption remain the major concerns for the urban India, there is also a massive anger over cap on LPG subsidy and diesel price hike among the people across the cities.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is to set up three liquefied petroleum gas bottling plants with an investment of Rs 55 crore (Rs 550 million) even as it plans to introduce the 5-kg LPG cylinders in the urban areas.
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.
As other members of the government have pointed out -- Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu among them -- India cannot afford to delay increasing prices, given the ballooning subsidy bill.
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