OMCs are currently incurring daily under-recovery of Rs 230 crore.
Expanding its commitment to provide subsidised foodgrain to the poor, the Manmohan Singh government is looking at a host of social sector initiatives along with its soon-to-be-unveiled Food Security Bill.
It was supposed to be a panacea against corruption, leakage and a magic wand for financial inclusion. But everywhere you look are people who enrolled, only to fall through the cracks again.
State fuel retailers IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum sell diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government dictated rates which are lower than cost of production.
After natural gas prices, the government looks set to bite the bullet on auto fuel prices, with a panel of ministers scheduled to meet on June 7 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that inflation is on a declining trajectory, as it has fallen by 170 basis points from its January 2020 peak. Retail inflation fell to four-month low of 5.91 per cent in March over the previous month, mainly due to easing food prices.
State-run Indian Oil Corp is losing Rs 92 crore (Rs 920 million) per day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene as government has not allowed it to revise rates in line with firming international oil prices.
The report noted that the value of food coupons needs to be indexed to food inflation. Public distribution system is a major initiative of the government to ensure food security for the poor.
As of December 2018, a total amount of Rs 51,513 crore has been infused into PSBs.
The proposed lockdown, sans present relaxations, will be implemented from June 19 to 30 and on two Sundays (June 21 and 28) there shall be a full scale shutdown without any relaxations.
After a spike, losses on sale of diesel have fallen by nearly a rupee to Rs 2.49 per litre as international oil rates have moderated.
The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said. The social sector agenda of the prime minister includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.
The extension has been given as the government wanted to ensure that genuine beneficiaries who do not have an Aadhaar number are not denied benefits for the lack of the biometric identifier
The ministerial group is to look into pricing of some essential commodities, including petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas and PDS kerosene. The GoM also includes Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister T R Baalu and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar.
The Union home ministry has issued strict guidelines for the enforcement of the 21-day complete nationwide lockdown in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, invoking the National Disaster Management Act which may result in imprisonment of up to two years for any violation. All government offices, the offices of state and Union territory governments, autonomous institutions, public corporations, commercial, private, industrial establishments shall remain closed, the guidelines issued by the ministry said.
This is the second straight increase in jet fuel rates in as many months.
Profit on sale of diesel swelled to Rs 1.90 per litre as oil ministry awaits return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cut rates.
Steel, cement, aluminum, fertilisers, tractors, two-wheelers, beverages and carbonated drinks, tyres and FMCG could see demand back to near normal levels by the third or the fourth quarter of the financial year, or even earlier.
Indian Oil Corporation sought an increase in prices of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene on Tuesday as spiralling global oil prices had put "enormous" burden and may result in a revenue loss of over Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) this fiscal. While the government and oil companies were bearing their share of the burden, the consumers have so far been spared from any hike in fuel prices despite crude oil touching a historic high of $93 per barrel.
Fuel retailers sell diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at government controlled rates which are below market price. The loss they thus incur is made good through cash subsidy from the government and dole from upstream firms like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
Implementing the Food Ordinance is the bigger challenge and there are many provisions of the National Food Security Bill which need to be expanded and strengthened.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest oil firm, today said it is losing Rs 320 crore (Rs 3.20 billion) a day on fuel sales and may see future projects getting impacted if the current situations continues in 2009. "We are losing about Rs 320 crore a day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters on the sidelines of 5th Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram later this week to seek greater compensation for oil companies, who are currently losing about Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a day on fuel sales. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see doubling of revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene to Rs 150,000 crore. The three fuel retailers together lost Rs 77,304.50 cr on fuel sale in 2007-08.
This is a formidable task which the Centre may find hard to shoulder without substantial involvement of the states.
The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during 2007-08 (upto August) has increased to $68.34 per barrel as compared to 62.46 dollars a barrel during 2006-07.
PDS: Smart ration cards need to be smarter
The Group of Ministers are scheduled to meet this month to decide upon the issue of petro price system.
'This prime minister thinks he knows everything.' 'He has to consult, he has to talk and he has to mobilise the best people, but having seen him function, I have no expectations from him.'
Attributing price rise to global factors and higher Minimum Support Price (MSP), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government has tried to protect the interest of poor people by maintaining supply through the PDS system.
Petroleum ministry has suggested extending government subsidy on domestic LPG and kerosene for an indefinite period as the gap between domestic retail price and current international prices was too large to be bridged through a price hike.
The Congress leader said a 'storm' was brewing on the economic front that will cause damage and hurt many.
The government is working on a plan to pass on part of the revenue loss public sector oil marketing firms are incurring on sale of liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene, to refiners, including Reliance Industries Ltd.
Twenty one states which have switched over to Value-Added Tax on Tuesday agreed to adopt uniform rates for industrial input, capital goods and essential commodities like medicines, salt, bread and PDS items.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL on Thursday afternoon stopped ATF supplies to Air India at six airports - Kochi, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Vizag and Mohali - over payment defaults. AI flights from these places were tanking up from other airports.
After five weeks of lockdown, migrant workers' patience ran out and so did the money, which forced them to leave Mumbai on bicycles.
Public sector oil companies lost Rs 9800 crore (Rs 98 billion) in the first six months of 2004-05 fiscal for selling petroleum products below the import cost, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday.
Acknowledging the receipt of Pakistan Cricket Board's request letter for tainted pacer Mohammad Amir's early return to cricket, International Cricket Council chief executive officer Dave Richardson on Monday said that the international body has taken note of the issue but the matter will take some time to get resolved.
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