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.
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.
Adding petrol and diesel to GST was a challenging task due to their significant role as revenue generators for both the central and state governments.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Union government on Thursday ruled out any increase in the prices of petrol and diesel despite the surge in global crude prices.
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 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.
Petrol currently costs Rs 72.51 per litre in Delhi.
Days after saying that there is no need for subsidies to achieve greater penetration of electric vehicles (EVs), Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday clarified that the view is his own, but any official call on EV subsidies is not one that he can take.
Petrol price was on Monday hiked by Rs 2.19 a litre and diesel by 98 paise per litre.
The government's decision to pass on the rise in oil prices to consumers not only inflates their petrol and diesel bills, it also fuels concerns over a possible economic recession, analysts said.
The increase in rates announced by oil firms is excluding state levies and the actual hike will be higher.
Centre and state governments are steadily increasing excise duties and value-added tax
With a high-powered ministerial panel on fuel pricing being scrapped, a cabinet committee may consider raising the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy indicated on Wednesday but refused to say when the issue would be taken up.
A hike in diesel and domestic LPG prices has been deferred for now, but an increase in petrol prices later this week looks imminent.
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.
Celerio's 793-cc diesel engine is the smallest in the market.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
Petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices are unlikely to be revised immediately as the Congress-led Government, which is yet to assume office
Petrol price can go down to Rs 75 a litre across the country if brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but there is a lack of political will, which is keeping Indian oil product prices at one of the highest in the world, economists at SBI said on Thursday.
Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and A B Bardhan on Thursday shared dais with Bharatiya Janata Party's Nitin Gadkari and Murli Manohar Joshi at a demonstration against FDI in retail and hike in diesel prices.
This is the fourth increase in auto fuel prices since May 1
Petrol price will be cheaper by 49 paise/litre and diesel by Rs 1.21.
Underrecovery from sensitive petroleum products seen at Rs 1,55,000 cr in current fiscal.
Making a case for increasing prices of petroleum products and deregulating diesel prices, the Reserve Bank on Monday said these steps are necessary to contain fiscal slippages and arrest decline in growth.
On December 5, the government had announced a Rs 5 per litre and Rs 2 a litre reduction in petrol and diesel prices, respectively, as global crude prices hovered around four year lows.
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