Many individual states experienced higher inflation than the all-India figures during the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Retail inflation figures in Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been higher than national numbers every month of this financial year, shows a Business Standard analysis of state-wise figures, after the March inflation data was released on Friday. Experts noted that persistent high food inflation along with differences in the weights of rural and urban indices plays into the regional variation in inflation rates.
The government may not revise petrol and diesel prices on April 1 as Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has piloted a note on the issue for discussion in the Cabinet, will be out of the country at the next due date for revision in fuel prices
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice while the opposition parties staged a walkout in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, voicing their protest against the increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas LPG.
Ahead of assembly polls in states like Rajasthan and Delhi, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said his ministry is mulling withdrawing the order that made it mandatory for state public transport utilities to buy diesel at market price.
State-owned oil firms have seen their losses on diesel sales widen to over Rs 6 per litre, even as a ministerial panel meeting on raising prices has not yet been scheduled.
After all, general elections are round the corner and it is not reforms but hand-outs that will fetch greater returns.
The government is mulling a Rs 2-3 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices, as oil firms are losing around Rs 10 per litre on the two fuels due to hardening global prices.
The Congress government had always tried to deal blow to poors, the Bihar Chief Minister said, adding the price of petrol would also increase inflation and it will add to the people's misery.
The Union Cabinet is likely to review prices of petrol and diesel as crude oil price continue to move northward.
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.
For the second time in as many months, the Government on Wednesday night cut petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.
It's time government used oil windfall wisely.
Close on the heels of steep increase in diesel price and cap on supply of subsidised LPG, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said greater alignment of domestic rates with global prices was in the interest of both consumers and investors.
GCMMF member daires do not rule out the possibility of price rise.
The empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is being convened soon to discuss a combination of a price hike and a reduction in government duties.
This is the third increase in two months
Oil companies have welcomed the hike in petrol and diesel as it will help them cut losses on sale of fuel.
Petrol will cost Rs 3.73 per litre more from today (Friday), while diesel prices have been increased by Rs 2 a litre. Also, your cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs 35 more, while kerosene will be priced Rs 3 per litre more.
Buying a car, particularly a diesel-powered one, is set to pinch the customers' pockets even more from the next financial year, as the second phase of Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) emission norms kicks in. The rules require cars to be compliant with real driving emission (RDE) norms, which measure pollutants emitted by cars while they are being driven on the road, unlike in a laboratory test. The norms may increase the cost of producing diesel vehicles by nearly Rs 75,000 to Rs 80,000, and petrol-powered ones by Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, analysts said.
Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder, the third increase in rates since May on firming international energy prices. Non-subsidised LPG now costs Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder in the national capital, up from Rs 1,003 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Common households pay non-subsidised rates for the cooking gas they buy, after the government restricted subsidy to just poor beneficiaries who got connections under the Ujjwala scheme.
The prime minister had expressed concern over the price rise and convened a meeting of chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee said.
The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs is expected to meet on Wednesday evening to take this decision, given the cheap crude prices in the global market. The government had last cut petrol prices on December by Rs 5, and diesel rates by Rs 2 a litre.
In November last year, Hyundai Motor India Ltd announced putting on hold its Rs 400-crore (Rs 4-billion) diesel engine plant which would have an installed capacity of 150,000 units per annum.
Buckling under pressure, the government on Wednesday cut the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively to bring down retail rates from record highs. The announcement comes on the eve of Diwali which will help bring down the skyrocketing prices of fuel and provide some relief to the common man battling inflation.
In first clear indications of a further reduction in petrol and diesel prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday said the government was considering passing on the benefit of the fall in international crude oil prices to consumers.
Thirteen big cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune and Sholapur will move from Euro-III grade fuel to Euro-IV from Thursday.
Petrol prices are likely to be cut by over one rupee a litre early next week as appreciation in value of rupee against US dollar and fall in global oil rates has made imports cheaper.
What could be more uncertain than Virat Kohli's agonising wait for a century for over two years? Perhaps it's what you will pay tomorrow morning to fill your vehicle's tank. Pump prices have joined cricket scores as the country's favourite discussion topic. Steep increases invite widespread protests, while moderate additions make the government anti-reformist. The ongoing fuel price conundrum is no different.
Close on the heels of a 70 paise per litre hike in petrol prices, the Oil Ministry is pushing for an increase in diesel and domestic cooking gas LPG prices, even though it is unsure of political support for the unpopular move with the ruling UPA alliance.
Acknowledging that the Union government had its own pressures in increasing petrol and diesel prices, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose party DMK is a key UPA ally, said on Wednesday that it would persuade the Centre to roll back the prices.
Government may raise petrol price by Rs 2 a litre and diesel by Re 1 a litre this week, but a duty rejig to minimise impact of high international crude oil prices looks unlikely. The decision on this will be taken by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In the sixth such hike in three months, petrol price has been increased by a steep Rs 2.35 per litre and diesel by 50 paise per litre on falling rupee and firming international oil prices.
There is no payment problem for Russian crude, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. He said there is no proposal to cut retail fuel prices at the moment. Addressing a press conference, the minister said India enjoys a buyers' position and foreign suppliers are approaching Indian companies with offers to sell oil.
The fall in international oil prices had resulted in six consecutive reduction in petrol prices since August and two in diesel in the last one month and there was possibility of another round of cuts this weekend.
The Union government on Thursday ruled out any increase in the prices of petrol and diesel despite the surge in global crude prices.
The recent petrol and diesel price hike by the government did not go down well with the common people who expressed their\ndispleasure over this pre-Budget move. The prices were raised by as much as 10 per cent on Wednesday.
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.
The wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the US on the Russian oil sector have started to dent near-term oil flows to India with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) saying not enough cargoes are available for March.
Petrol currently costs Rs 72.51 per litre in Delhi.
The increases, which follow similar hikes in mid-November, seek to take advantage of a slump in world oil prices to shore up government revenues without stoking inflation.
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