According to estimates, if the companies are not allowed to raise petrol rates at least Rs 5 a litre by the first fortnight of September, they might begin to suffer underrecoveries on this decontrolled auto fuel, too -- for the first time this financial year.
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.
Petroleum and oil marketing companies raised the price of commercial liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders by Rs 350.50 per unit and domestic LPG cylinders by Rs 50 per unit with immediate effect from Wednesday.
The Planning Commission said the decision of oil marketing companies to raise petrol price by Rs 3.14 per litre is a good news and will provide credibility to the economic reforms process.
Petrol is currently sold at a loss of Rs 6.68 per litre and diesel at Rs 5.81 per litre. Naik said the Vajpayee government had given Navratna oil firms the freedom to decide fuel prices.
In a bid to lower the impact of an unavoidable hike in petrol and diesel prices, Oil Minister Murli Deora has asked states like Delhi and Andhra Pradesh to lower sales tax (VAT) on auto fuels and shift towards specific rates.
The nationwide strike on Tuesday called by the Left parties against the hike in petrol and diesel prices evoked a mixed response with it getting unruly in some parts of the country.
Although the government has started phasing out the subsidy on diesel sale, it continues to supply kerosene and LPG cylinders at subsidised rates.
Petrol and diesel prices may be hiked by up to Re 1 per litre each on August 15, the next due date for fuel price revision, in step with the surge in global oil prices.
According to police, CPI-M legislator K Bhimrao and other party supporters were arrested from Guindy railway station in Chennai.
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The government on Tuesday raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 2.25 per litre and by Re 1 a litre on diesel but retail pump rates will not be increased as oil firms decided to absorb the duty change for the time being.
Petroleum ministry has sought an increase of Rs 2.50 per litre in petrol and Rs 1.30 per litre in diesel prices in line with hike in tax rates announced in Budget and asked oil firms to bear the impact of surge in global oil prices.
The petroleum ministry has proposed a Rs 3.25 per litre hike in petrol and about Rs 4 per litre increase in diesel prices in line with the spurt in global crude oil prices that have touched $66 a barrel.
Petrol price had been cut 10 times since August 2014.
Angry over the 'steep hike' in fuel prices, the United Progressive Alliance's Left allieson Wednesday demanded a review of the decision as it announced a week-long nationwide agitation to protest the "unjustified burden" imposed on the common man.
The government on Tuesday hiked the prices of petrol by Rs 2 per litre and diesel by Re 1 per litre, besides raising domestic cooking gas LPG prices by Rs 20 a cylinder in Delhi.
Fuel prices are likely to be hiked again after the Parliament's Budget session ends on May 22.
The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre.
The government is likely to hike prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 4 and Rs 2 per litre, respectively, as global crude oil prices continued to surge.
GCMMF member daires do not rule out the possibility of price rise.
The company would roll out the BS-VI range of products and an automatic transmission version of its latest car 'Triber' next year.
Faced with the prospect of revenue loss on fuel jumping to Rs 700 billion (Rs 70,000 crore) next fiscal, Petroleum Ministry on Wednesday called for "harsh decisions" even as it hinted that cleaner Euro-IV fuel in 13 metro cities will cost more from April 1.
Petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be hiked in the near future, with Finance Minister P Chidambaram agreeing in-principle to share a third of the revenue loss that state-run oil firms incur on sale of fuel
The petrol price hike has added to the woes of the common man.
The AIMTC, which had gone on strikes to protest diesel price hikes in the past, said it will hold a meeting of its national members on July 12 to chalk out its future course of action.
Virtually securing the consent of Left parties, the government is likely to decide next week on a price hike of Rs 4 per litre for petrol and Rs 3 a litre for diesel while sparing cooking gas and kerosene.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday passed bills enhancing the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers and legislators.
Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy has written to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee demanding a hike in excise duty on diesel cars to make up for subsidised fuel being used in vehicles.
The government's decision to pass on the rise in oil prices to consumers not only inflates their petrol and diesel bills, it also fuels concerns over a possible economic recession, analysts said.
State-run Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum currently sell petrol, a commodity which the government freed from its control in June last year, at a discount of about Rs 4.50 a litre to its imported cost.
Petrol and diesel prices will go by Rs 2.50 and Rs 2 per litre respectively.
With crude oil touching a record $72 per barrel, Indian Oil Corporation is seeking a Rs 5.6 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 7.6 a litre hike in diesel prices to offset the Rs 80-crore (Rs 800-million) revenue loss per day.
According to police, CPI-M legislator K Bhimrao and other party supporters were arrested from Guindy railway station in Chennai.
Petrol price was hiked by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The seventh straight day of price hike pushed fuel rates to a new record high. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 104.44 a litre and Rs 110.41 per litre in Mumbai, the notification showed. In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 101.03 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs Rs 93.17.
Amid protests from political parties over the hike in petrol prices, the government on Monday said the product was deregulated and the revision in the fuel rate was done by the oil marketing companies.
The oil companies will meet on Friday for the review meeting on pricing in which petrol price could be increased by Re 1 and diesel prices by 50 paise by this weekend.
The government on Monday ruled out any immediate increase in petrol and diesel prices despite a spurt in international crude oil prices.
