Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared a state of emergency with effect from May 6 midnight, the second time in just over a month amidst growing countrywide anti-government protests over the economic crisis.
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.
Criticising lack of "appropriate" pricing of petroleum products, the pre-Budget Economic Survey on Monday warned that the current practice of not passing on cost of production to consumers will have serious consequences and said non-resolution of sub
The government is looking into demands for raising the cap on supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinders per households, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said.
The government-appointed Kirit Parikh committee suggested an 'immediately' hike prices of diesel by Rs 5 a litre, Rs 4 per litre in kerosene and Rs 250 per cylinder in LPG, reduce annual entitlement of subsidised cooking gas cylinder from six from nine and phase out diesel subsidy in one year to cut a record subsidy burden.
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.
The petroleum ministry has said that fuel prices should go up by Rs 10.43 a litre and cooking gas price by Rs 114.45 per cylinder, with the Left parties opposing the move.
LPG cash transfer to begin with Mysore, Hyderabad.
Losses on sale of diesel at government-controlled rates have hit a record Rs 19.26 a litre, sending state-owned oil companies scrambling for ways to cover the mounting losses.
Inflation has dipped to 4.39 per cent for the week ended January 31, from 5.07 per cent in the previous week, says Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked all chief ministers to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to mitigate the impact of the price hike on the common man.
Low oil prices drove the growth in states' share faster than expected, says Abhishek Waghmare.
India's crude oil import bill is set to exceed $100 billion in the current fiscal year ending March 31, almost double its spending last year, as international oil prices trade at seven-year highs. India spent $94.3 billion in the first 10 months (April-January) of the ongoing financial year that started April 1, 2021, according to data from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC). It spent $11.6 billion in January alone when oil prices had started to surge.
A decision on raising diesel prices by Rs 3-5 per litre, kerosene by Rs 2 and LPG by up to Rs 50 per cylinder will be taken after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi returns from US, top government officials said.
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.
State-run gas utility GAIL India on Monday said it should be exempted from payment of fuel subsidies as it does not get any upside from rise in crude oil or natural gas price.
The Union government is likely to cut import duties on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to cushion the impact of high international crude oil prices on the domestic market.
It will be available from April 24.
After diesel, the government is considering raising cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene rates in small doses of Rs 5 per cylinder and Rs 0.50-1 a litre every month to wipe out Rs 80,000 crore subsidy on the two fuels.
It proposed that smart cards be issued to BPL families for supply of subsidised kerosene in urban and semi-urban areas to cut diversion of the fuel to unintended users. The panel also suggested a cash transfer system, whereby funds can be transferred to BPL families through a banking or postal system for purchasing of kerosene, instead of supplying the fuel much below the market price.
The under-realisation on fuel sales reported by the country's oil companies is overstated by as much as 15 per cent, according to experts, though this does not mean that the oil companies are making profits on selling subsidised petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene.
The relaxation would be available only to those beneficiaries who have been credited with the advance for buying the cylinder but have not been able to purchase the refill.
The retail losses that the country's oil marketing companies incur on sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene at subsidised prices have risen by 7.3 per cent to around Rs 440 crore (Rs 4.4 billion) per day in the fortnight ended March 31.IOC lost Rs 17 for every litre of petrol it sold, up from Rs 14.65 a litre on March 15. It lost Rs 316 per 14.2-kg cylinder, compared with Rs 303.65 per cylinder in the previous fortnight.
Inflation touched 5.48 per cent for the week ended April 9, mainly due to costlier vegetables, fruits, cooking gas and edible oils.
In line with the Centre's expectation of a benign price level, inflation fell further to 5.11 per cent in the penultimate week of 2004-05 fiscal, but was higher than 4.53 per cent a year-ago.
State-run oil refiners are likely to report profits on daily sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene in the fortnight ending December 31, after average crude oil prices have been nearly 3 per cent lower and the rupee has appreciated 3.2 per cent compared with the first fortnight of this month.
Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd are projected to lose around Rs 1,15,500 crore (Rs 1,155 billion) during the year as they sold petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas at below production costs when crude oil prices rose steadily between April and July this year to reach a peak of $147 a barrel in early July.
The Central government is stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea as far as the runaway fuel prices are concerned.
The retail prices of petroleum products have moved broadly in line with, or somewhat more than, the rupee cost of oil imports.
'The wife will not only abuse her husband for giving her less money, but also abuse the government.' 'Look at the price of a cooking gas cylinder, it is Rs 1,200.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released its manifesto for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh elections promising MSP for wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal and paddy at Rs 3,100 and houses for beneficiaries of the state's flagship scheme 'Ladli Bahna'.
Notwithstanding its divestment setback, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is planning to enter the exploration segment and foray into the markets of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
State-run oil firms have stopped issuing new domestic cooking gas connections in view of the surge in steel prices, which increases the manufacturing cost of cylinders.
India's fuel sales surged past pre-pandemic levels in March on twin impact of the economy rebounding from the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions and anticipation of price increases leading to stocking. In the first two weeks of March, dealers, as well as the public, topped up their tanks in anticipation of an increase in prices that had been on hold in the run-up to the elections in states like Uttar Pradesh. While daily price revisions restarted on March 22, the increases were calibrated.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce major Amazon for selling pressure cookers that did not meet quality standards. The CCPA also directed Amazon to notify the consumers of all these 2,265 pressure cookers sold through its platform, recall the products and reimburse the prices to buyers, the Department of Consumer Affairs said in a statement.
Petrol price on Friday crossed the Rs 100- per-litre mark in Chennai as well as in some places in Punjab and Kerala after fuel prices were hiked yet again. Petrol is priced at over Rs 99 a litre in Delhi and Kolkata -- the only metro cities which haven't seen the Rs 100 mark yet. Petrol price was hiked by 35 paise per litre on Friday but there was no change in diesel rates, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
