India always faces a Hobson's choice as far as feeding coal-fired generators goes - even if the government is reluctant to admit it. The country cannot do without shipping in the world's most polluting fuel from overseas. And it will continue to do so unless it decides to reduce demand by forcing citizens, farmers and businesses to live without electricity for part of the day, or use diesel generators to fire facilities.
Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, were on Friday hiked by a steep 40 per cent to record levels, in step with global firming up of energy rates. The rate paid for gas produced from old fields, which make up for about two-thirds of all gas produced in the country, was hiked to $8.57 per million British thermal units from the current $6.1, according to an order from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Simultaneously, the price of gas from difficult and newer fields like the ones in Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp plc operated deepsea D6 block in KG basin, was hiked to $12.6 per mmBtu from $9.92, the order said.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Wednesday, taking the total increase in rates in 16 days to Rs 10 per litre.
CCPA said the primary issues raised in the notices included 'deficiency in service'. This includes lack of proper response from customer support, driver refusing to take payment by online mode and insisting for cash only.
Brent crude oil prices may rise to $110 a barrel in 2023, up nearly 33 per cent from the current levels, said analysts at Morgan Stanley, in a recent note. This is, however, lower than the peak level of nearly $127 touched earlier in 2022 as geopolitical concerns took centre stage amidrising demand. "Looking ahead, Brent oil price growth will decelerate even more in the coming quarters. "This comes even as our global oil strategist expects a rise in oil prices back to $110 a barrel by the second half of 2023.
Given India's low average salaries and large number of jobs in the informal sector, even a small spike in inflation can put poor consumers at risk.
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Despite the best ever quarterly net profit of Rs 3,091 crore during April-June of financial year 2023-24 (Q1FY24), challenges are mounting for InterGlobe Aviation-run IndiGo in the near term, said analysts. Given this, most brokerages have retained their ratings from 'buy to underperform', as well as their target price for the stock. For instance, Motilal Oswal Financial Services has retained its 'neutral' rating on the scrip as it believes the low-cost airline is facing teething issues at present.
India, the world's third-largest energy consumer and importer, on Wednesday warned of high oil prices hurting the nascent and fragile global economic recovery and floated an idea of long-term supply contracts that provide predictable and stable pricing. Speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there was a mismatch between demand for oil and the supplies producers such as OPEC+ were making and there was a case for raising the production. The world, he said, needs "predictable, stable and affordable" prices for it to recover back to pre-pandemic levels.
Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 2 per cent compared to a build up rate of 4.56 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year. Inflation in food articles as a group rose to 11.08 per cent during the month as against 9.80 per cent in the previous month, mainly driven by exorbitantly high onion prices, the rates of which spiked by over 172 per cent from a year-ago. The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index was at 0.16 per cent in October.
In one of the steepest increases since daily price revision was started, petrol price on Thursday was hiked by 25 paise per litre and diesel by 30 paise as oil companies raised rates for the third straight day to pass on to consumers the increase in international oil prices.
While India won't be immune to global spillovers, we need to create the macro preconditions for sustained growth. Policy agility, prudence, and resilience will be key, suggests Sonal Varma.
Retail inflation cut short its three-month declining trend and inched up to 7 per cent in August mainly due to higher food prices, according to official data released on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 6.71 per cent in July and 5.3 per cent in August 2021. The CPI inflation has remained above the RBI's comfort level of 6 per cent for the eighth month in a row.
The wholesale price-based inflation eased to 10.66 per cent in September, helped by moderating food prices even as crude petroleum witnessed a spike. WPI inflation remained in double-digit for the sixth consecutive month. In August, it was 11.39 per cent. In September 2020, inflation was 1.32 per cent. "The high rate of inflation in September 2021 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, non-food articles, food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, chemicals and chemical products etc. as compared the corresponding month of the previous year," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
In addition to concerns over monsoon shortfall and rising global commodity prices, RBI on Monday said that a hike in power tariffs could further push up inflation in the coming months.
Oil prices slid to a three-week low on Wednesday on expectations of falling global demand after India , the world's sixth largest oil and gas consumer, lowered its fuel subsidies.
With the increased death rate in the ongoing second wave of Covid-19, domestic cement companies are in no better condition than they were in the April-June quarter of FY21 when the country faced nationwide lockdown. "This wave has had high death rate which has impacted the business. "We are in no better situation than last (year) April. "Deaths of drivers, dealers, contractors and also employees have hit the industry really very hard since April (FY22)," M Ravinder Reddy, director of Bharathi Cements said.
Petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday touched fresh highs as rupee dipped to a record low of 71.54 against US dollar, making imports costlier
Consumer-focused companies have been left with few options but to increase the prices of their products as input costs mount because of various factors, including supply chain disruptions. This has been affecting monthly household budgets. Prices of scores of items -- from spices to soaps to rice -- have increased in the past year.
Police resorted to using tear gas and sting grenades to control the crowd gathering near Paris' Montparnasse train station.
An article on 'State of the Economy' in the monthly Bulletin also said the improvement in the outlook for agriculture and the revival of rural spending have turned out to be the bright spots in the evolution of demand conditions. Consumer price inflation ticked up in June 2024 after three consecutive months of moderation as a broad flare-up in vegetable prices halted the overall disinflation that had been underway, it said.
The government has no plans to increase petrol and diesel prices even though international crude rates have touched $100 per barrel, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said in Panipat on Tuesday.
The government has hiked gold import duty to 15 per cent from 10.75 per cent to check the current account deficit (CAD) and rising import of the yellow metal. The duty changes came into effect on June 30. Earlier, the basic customs duty on gold was 7.5 per cent, now it will be 12.5 per cent.
The price of subsidised cooking gas was on Tuesday hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder, the sixth increase in rates in five months, while that of jet fuel was raised by a steep 7.3 per cent in step with global trends.
Moody's Investors Service has warned that India, along with the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are highly vulnerable to volatile food and energy prices in the Asia-Pacific region as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to disrupt supplies and raise the cost of agricultural products, especially cereals and vegetable oils, as well as fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. This is so because these countries have a higher weighting of energy and food prices in their consumer price index (CPI) baskets, Moody's said in its report released on Tuesday. The weighting of energy and food in overall Indian CPI stands at over 55 per cent.
Closely watched by the world for any escalation, the Iran-Israel conflict is already showing early signs of stress for India Inc - longer deliveries, doubling freight rates, extended working capital cycles, and higher costs. For those yet to feel the heat, there is growing apprehension and nervousness over future developments, observed industry executives.
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.
At around 8:30 pm local time on May 3, a series of rocket strikes hit targets across Lviv, with columns of smoke filling the sky over the city.
Experts feel oil prices will remain volatile with an upward bias.
The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said.
"They (prices of petroleum products) should be linked to world prices," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told PTI when asked about the global crude prices now surging to about $70 a barrel.
India's aviation industry could return to profitability in 2023-24 for the first time since the pandemic. The industry may pare aggregated net loss by 75-80 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to between Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 4,500 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 17,500 crore of net losses in 2021-22 (FY22). A combination of recovery in passenger volumes and easing cost pressures due to stable fuel and foreign exchange (forex) costs could spark a turnaround. CRISIL says domestic and international passenger traffic recovered to 90 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively, of pre-pandemic traffic (2019-20, or FY20), in April-December 2022, compared with April-December 2019.
While consumers feel that petrol pinches directly, diesel hurts indirectly, as it is an input in almost all the goods and services we use.
Diesel price on Monday was hiked by 25 paise per litre -- the third increase since last week -- and more rate hikes for both diesel and petrol are in the offing in the coming days as international oil prices have soared to a three-year high. The price of diesel was hiked to Rs 89.32 per litre in Delhi and to Rs 96.94 in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the second straight day of increase in diesel prices and the third since September 24 when the state-owned oil firms ended a three-week hiatus in rates.
Sitharaman raised excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on the auto fuels by Rs 2 per litre each to raise over Rs 28,000 crore.
'In terms of incentives, if you think about it, hybrids are a 20-year-old technology.'
Addressing a protest rally at Bankura against rising fuel prices and the proposed privatisation of trains on Saturday, Kalyan Banerjee demanded Sitharaman's resignation.
On September 7, the trade unions have called a dawn to dusk bandh to protest against rise in price of daily commodities and, once again, fuel price hikes.
India's net oil import bill could widen to $101-104 billion in current fiscal from $96.1 billion in 2023-24 and any escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict could impart an upward pressure on the value of imports, ICRA said on Tuesday. The domestic rating agency said based on its analysis, lower value of Russian oil imports is estimated to have led to savings of $7.9 billion in 11 months (April-February) of 2023-24, up from $5.1 billion in 2022-23.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has blamed the US' biofuel policy of diverting food grains such as corn for producing bio-fuels for the spurt in food grain prices globally. He also said that lack of adequate regulations in the US sub-prime market has led to global financial uncertainties. He said the demand for staple food was on the rise, leading to higher prices, but diverting food for fuel had also contributed to increase in food prices. He called US' priorities lopsided.
