Left parties on Friday opposed the hike in diesel price with the Communist Party of India-Marxist terming it a "gigantic fraud" and decided to hold protests across the country while targeting thr Trinamool Congress for its "double standard" on the issue.
The cheer of the New Year was darkened by news that India's public finances continue to be in dire straits.
Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers' Association urged people not to panic-buy petrol or diesel, stating that 14 terminals in Tamil Nadu have enough stock to replenish 7,000-plus retail outlets as per their demand.
BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty has criticised the West Bengal government over high fuel taxes and alleged security lapses, particularly concerning women's safety and border control.
Keen to prevent a downgrade of India's sovereign rating by Standard & Poor's (S&P), which could trigger an exodus of foreign investors, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told the Congress party there is no option but to raise diesel prices by at least Rs 5 a litre after the Presidential election. The current diesel subsidy is Rs 9.13 per litre sold.
Blue Energy Motors, a Mumbai-based outfit, is set to disrupt the market for two million heavy-duty trucks running on diesel and petrol in the case of routes under 500 km by transforming them into electric.
Indian equity markets experienced a volatile session, with the Sensex and Nifty recovering some ground after a significant plunge the previous day. Gains were driven by PSU bank, IT, and metal stocks, but concerns over rising fuel prices and geopolitical tensions limited the recovery.
The Kremlin has stated that India is free to purchase oil from any country, dismissing claims that India agreed to reduce Russian oil imports. Russia maintains that energy trade with India benefits both nations and contributes to international energy market stability.
In nine hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 5 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.87 a litre.
The last revision was done in June wherein passenger fares were revised by 4.2 per cent and freight rates by 1.4 per cent.
The government in December obtained Parliament approval for raising the oil subsidy bill by Rs 28,500 crore (Rs 285 billion) over and above the amount earmarked in the Budget for 2012-13.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar over the steep Rs 2.35 a litre hike in petrol price and 50 paisa a litre increase in cost of diesel.
The price of petrol has been hiked by Rs 1.39 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 1.04 a litre, in sync with firming international rates.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
The government has hiked diesel price by Rs 5 per litre, effective midnight tonight.
Both sides have now revealed a preference for escalation over strategic defeat, and each new provocation narrows the space for the next pause. The Touska seizure, Iran's refusal to negotiate under blockade, Israel's strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure -- all of these add up to an increasingly untenable situation. This makes the wild card -- Trump and his motormouth -- more consequential than ever, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
The ministry of petroleum and natural gas on Friday reiterated that India has sufficient stock of crude oil, petrol and diesel, while ensuring an uninterrupted supply of LNG and LPG despite disruptions caused by the ongoing West Asia conflict.
Ministry to propose a new subsidy mechanism to cap upstream firms' share.
Close on the heels of reducing prices of premium mid-size sedan Baleno, India's largest carmaker Maruti Udyog Ltd on Friday announced a price cut of Rs 38,000 on the diesel versions of its mid-size car Esteem.
Petrol price hiked by 60 paise per litre, diesel by 50 paise.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it will continue to raise in both houses of Parliament the issue of diesel price hike, which is hitting the common man, but not stall proceedings.
Diesel price is likely to be cut by close to Rs 2.50 a litre, the first reduction in more than four years, after code of conduct for assembly elections is lifted.
Maharashtra govt has announced an 80 paise cut in the price of petrol and a 30 paise cut in the price of diesel.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the BJP after the central government failed to pass a Constitution amendment bill for women's quota in legislatures, accusing the BJP of using the bill as a political ploy to divide the country and Bengal.
Moily insisted that no proposal has been moved to the Cabinet for raising diesel rates beyond the 40-50 paise a litre monthly increase, which has been implemented since January.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked by 24-25 paise per litre, the steepest increase since July 5 Union Budget, as a fallout of turmoil in global oil markets following drone attacks on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities.
In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.
India's macroeconomic indicators are improving and inflation has been coming down consistent with the central bank's forecast, but Asia's third-largest economy needs investment growth to pick up, he added.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 77.28 per litre from Rs 76.73, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 75.79 a litre from Rs 75.19, according to a price notification from State oil marketing companies. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday climbed to fresh highs in the country as rates were hiked by the most in recent times, even as fuel retailers said the government can cut taxes to ease consumer burden. Petrol and diesel price was hiked by 35 paise per litre each after a gap of a week, according to price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took petrol prices to a fresh high of Rs 86.65 a litre in Delhi and to Rs 93.20 in Mumbai.
India possesses approximately 100 million barrels of commercial crude oil stocks, capable of covering 40-45 days of its requirements if flows through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted, according to Kpler.
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh
Petrol and diesel prices are likely to go up by at least Rs 2 per litre after the Lok Sabha polls, once the current freeze on revising prices in step with the cost of the raw material -- crude oil -- is lifted.
The V-Class will be locally produced at the Mercedes facility in Chakan, near Pune, making it the second product, after the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, to begin local production.
Already, the government's resources are strained due to various fiscal stimulus and the Survey has separately noted that high growth environment creates scope for partial rollback of these stimuli.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed a heated debate between the opposition and the government regarding a discussion on the West Asia crisis, with accusations of political maneuvering and failure to uphold the dignity of parliamentary positions.
Hardening prices of manufactured items during the month may refrain the Reserve Bank of India from cutting rates in its policy review on February 8.
For that to happen America does not have to lose. It only has to do the right thing, asserts Aakar Patel.
'Within six months I expect petrol, diesel, and electric vehicles (EVs) to reach cost parity,' says Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
