Oil marketing cos rightly passed on the burden to buyers.
The government has partially deregulated diesel price allowing a hike of 40-50 paise a litre per month for retail customers and nearly Rs 11 for bulk consumers, a step that is feared will have a cascading effect on inflation.
Jet fuel prices on Wednesday were cut by 1.3 per cent -- the first reduction after 10 rounds of price hikes -- on softening international crude oil rates. Simultaneously, prices of commercial LPG - used by business establishments such as hotels and restaurants - were reduced by Rs 135 per 19-kg cylinder. The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) -- the fuel that helps aeroplanes fly -- has been reduced by Rs 1,563.97 per kilolitre, or 1.27 per cent, to Rs 1,21,475.74 per kl (Rs 121 per litre) in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
The government will consider cutting petrol and diesel prices, if crude oil prices fall below $50 a barrel.
'This market for diesel starts at around Rs 6.3 lakh and goes up to Rs 7 lakh, and with Saathi we have our usual price set at Rs 6.5 lakh, so we are slightly on the lower side with a superior product.'
The government has reduced the windfall profit tax levied on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 1,900 per tonne from Rs 2,100 per tonne, the order dated January 16, said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuel like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
The government has slashed allocation of natural gas used for LPG production, and diverted the low-priced fuel to city gas retailers like Indraprastha Gas Ltd and Adani-Total Gas Ltd to meet a part of their requirement for CNG/piped cooking gas supplies, according an official order. The government had in October and November last year cut supplies of low-priced natural gas coming from old fields such as Mumbai High and Bassein fields in the Bay of Bengal, to city gas retailers by as much as 40 per cent in view of limited output.
India's electric vehicle (EV) industry hit a new milestone in 2024, with sales surging 26.5 per cent year-on-year to 1.94 million units as of December 29, according to Vahan data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
Petrol price on Tuesday breached the Rs 85 a litre mark in the national capital and diesel neared record high after rates were raised for the second consecutive day. Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies. This took the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 85.20 per litre and to Rs 91.80 in Mumbai. Diesel rate climbed to Rs 75.38 a litre in the national capital - just shying away from its record high - and to an all-time high of Rs 82.13 in Mumbai, the price data showed.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and called for a return to ballot paper voting. He also criticized the Modi government for selling off public assets, undermining democratic institutions, and promoting communal polarization. Kharge's remarks come as the Congress prepares for its AICC session in Ahmedabad, where it will present its political and economic views.
The government will cut petrol and diesel prices when there is a sustained drop in global crude oil prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Thursday.
Petrol price has been cut by 58 paise a litre and diesel by 25 paise with effect from midnight tonight.
As crude oil prices hover around four-year lows, the government may look at slashing diesel prices further that will help cool inflation by lowering goods transportation charges.
The loss, which is made good through government subsidy, has declined since March as the rupee strengthened against the dollar and global oil prices softened.
The price differential between diesel and petrol has narrowed. But there are still enough reasons to opt for the diesel variant.
Technical Advisory Committee was for status quo in policy rate on little hope of government action.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that diesel prices too will be freed from government control as part of 'much-needed reforms', but LPG and kerosene will continue to be subsidised.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Tuesday said petrol and diesel prices will not be increased "as of now" even as he began consultations with Finance Minister P Chidambaram on ways of mitigating the spurt in global oil prices.
State-owned oil companies on Wednesday raised the prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre each, effective from midnight.\n\n\n\n
Excise duty on petrol will remain at Rs 14.35 a litre and diesel at Rs 4.60 per litre.
Their first target would be bulk buyers.
The government has raised the windfall profit tax levied on domestically produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and ATF, in line with firming international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been increased to Rs 2,100 per tonne from Rs 1,700 per tonne, the order dated January 2, said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuel like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
Prices of petrol were reduced 32 times and increased 21 times while diesel prices were slashed 19 times and raised 28 times since 2013.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday hinted that the system of fortnightly revision of petrol and diesel prices is likely to be replaced with monthly or quarterly revisions.
Diesel prices are raised every month by up to 50 paise per litre to trim the losses. Rates were last raised on August 1 after which losses had dipped to Rs 1.33.
The share of diesel vehicles sold in 2014-15 was 37 per cent.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Friday said the government would wait for international crude prices to stabilise before announcing any cuts in domestic petrol and diesel prices.
As auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) became the number two player in the retail passenger vehicle segment for the first time in February, powered by its new launches, the company is setting its sights on technology upgrades.
The government had in April 2002 freed petrol and diesel prices from administrative control, following which the state retailers revised prices every fortnight in line with changes in costs. But, controls were brought back in 2004 when crude oil rose to $37 a barrel and they have stayed high since then with crude oil soaring to an all-time high of $147 a barrel in July 2008.
Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Kantilal Bhuria told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there was no immediate impact of the hike in petrol and diesel prices on essential commodities. Impact of some of the factors, including hike in prices of petrol and diesel could be felt only with a time-lag. While price of rice went up, prices of wheat, atta, chana dal, tur dal, sugar, mustard oil, vanaspati, milk & onion did not rise during the period under review.
Petrol price will go up Rs 3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates.
The government has cut windfall profit tax on export of diesel and ATF to their lowest while also reducing the levy on domestically-produced crude in line with softening international oil prices, according to an official order. The levy on crude oil produced by companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been cut to Rs 4,350 per tonne from Rs 5,050 per tonne, the order dated February 15 said. Crude oil pumped out of the ground and from below the seabed is refined and converted into fuels like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
The Kelkar Committee has recommended sharp reduction in subsidies on petroleum, food and fertiliser, which the government said was contrary to its policy of protecting the poor.
Cooking gas LPG prices may be hiked next week after under-recovery on the fuel widened to over Rs 100 per cylinder, sources said insisting that the rate hike, including the quantum of increase, is dependent on government permission. If allowed, this will be the fifth increase in cooking gas rates across all categories - households using subsidised gas for cooking and heating purposes, non-subsidised fuel and industrial-sized gas. LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 15 per cylinder on October 6, taking the total increase in rates since July to Rs 90 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
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.
Deregulating petrol and diesel prices has been on the cards since the crude oil prices came down by $100 from the historic high of $147 a barrel, a few weeks back. But with the rates climbing again, doubts are being cast if prices can actually be freed. Crude oil prices are ruling at $71-72 a barrel, a seven-month high.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday criticized the Uttar Pradesh government over the severe traffic congestion in Prayagraj, claiming it has led to a shortage of essential commodities and inconvenienced devotees visiting the Maha Kumbh Mela. He also posted a video on X with people sharing their experiences and pointing out at the chaos. Yadav alleged that the officials are giving orders sitting in their rooms but are not coming down to the ground and that residents of Prayagraj have got nothing except filth, traffic jams and price rise.
The railways buy an average of 2.4 billion litres of diesel every year spending around Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) annually on diesel fuel expenses for operating locomotives.
The government is preparing to bite the bullet, with partial decontrol of diesel prices after the Presidential election on July 19.
What's driving consumers to petrol cars? Ajay Modi finds out.
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