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.
Prices of petrol were reduced 32 times and increased 21 times while diesel prices were slashed 19 times and raised 28 times since 2013.
Petrol price will go up Rs 3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates.
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.
The Maharashtra government has reduced sales tax on diesel from 34 per cent to 25 per cent.
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.
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 31st meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, held in December 2018, deferred a decision to reduce the GST rate for cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. This was despite recognising that cement - along with automobile parts - remained among the few mass-consumption items still taxed at the highest slab, which was originally meant for luxury and sin goods.
The government is preparing to bite the bullet, with partial decontrol of diesel prices after the Presidential election on July 19.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday ruled out upside risks to the 5.3 per cent inflation forecast for the current fiscal, saying the recent cut in excise duty on diesel and petrol as well as better management of supply-side issues on the food front have contained inflationary expectations. These measures are significantly positive for inflation management, he said. After months of calls for reducing taxes on fuels, the government, last week, cut the excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 10 and Rs 5 per litre, respectively.
After Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp plc of the UK, Nayara Energy - the nation's largest private fuel retailer - has started selling petrol and diesel at Re 1 less than the fuel sold by state-owned retailers, officials said. While state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) continue to hold prices despite a drop in international rates, private fuel retailers have started passing on the benefit to consumers. "To further stimulate domestic consumption and cater to local customers better, we have introduced a Re 1 discount in our retail outlets until the end of June 2023," a spokesperson for Nayara Energy said.
After Delhi, CNG price in Mumbai has been hiked by Rs 1.50 per kg and the rate of cooking gas piped to houses by Re 1 due to rise in input costs. Mahanagar Gas Ltd, which retails CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households for cooking purposes in Mumbai and surrounding cities, said the increased prices will come into effect from the intervening night of July 8 and 9.
The government's decision to hike diesel price by Rs 5 has shocked the nation.
The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said.
With the latest diesel price rise, coming after a rollback of most of the earlier proposals for a passenger fare increase, Indian Railways' operational surplus is expected to come down by 24 per cent, to Rs 11,707 crore (Rs 117.07 billion) in 2012-13 as against the Rs 15,557 crore (Rs 155.57 billion) anticipated at the beginning of the financial year.
Petrol is currently sold at a loss of Rs 6.68 per litre and diesel at Rs 5.81 per litre. Naik said the Vajpayee government had given Navratna oil firms the freedom to decide fuel prices.
Given India's low average salaries and large number of jobs in the informal sector, even a small spike in inflation can put poor consumers at risk.
What's driving consumers to petrol cars? Ajay Modi finds out.
The AIMTC, which had gone on strikes to protest diesel price hikes in the past, said it will hold a meeting of its national members on July 12 to chalk out its future course of action.
Jet fuel prices on Thursday were hiked by the steepest ever 16 per cent to catapult rates to an all-time high in step with hardening international oil rates.
The government freed diesel pricing last October, providing a level playing field to private companies like Reliance and Essar Oil.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai launched a scathing attack on Congress, stating that the party takes "pleasure" in insulting Bihar and its people.
The Petroleum Federation of India, the apex body of public and private oil firms, has submitted to the oil ministry a 100-day agenda for the new government. On top of its list is decontrol of petrol and diesel prices. Currently, public sector retailers sell auto fuel at government-dictated rates, which the private sector competition is unable to match in times of high input cost (crude oil prices).
In Delhi, petrol price down Rs 2.5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2.25
After a spike, losses on sale of diesel have fallen by nearly a rupee to Rs 2.49 per litre as international oil rates have moderated.
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.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd is estimated to have earned 724 million euros (about Rs 6,850 crore) from exporting fuel made from Russian crude oil to the US in one year, an European think tank said in a report. "From January 2024 to the end of January 2025, the US imported EUR 2.8 billion of refined oil from six refineries in India and Turkey that process Russian crude.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Tuesday ruled out any increase in petrol and diesel prices in the run-up to the General Elections saying international crude oil prices have eased.
A graphic showing how the average prices for petrol and diesel have moved over the last ten years.
Petrol and diesel prices will not be hiked immediately as the Cabinet on Friday did not discuss the issue, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
'In the luxury car segment, the adoption of EVs is almost double compared to the mass market.'
India Against Corruption on Friday alleged that the opposition to the hike in diesel price by political parties was a "drama" and demanded immediate rollback of the increase in fuel price.
Reliance Industries, India's largest private fuel retailer, may cut petrol and diesel prices by about Re one per litre on Thursday in step with a fall in international oil prices.
In a bid to lower the impact of an unavoidable hike in petrol and diesel prices, Oil Minister Murli Deora has asked states like Delhi and Andhra Pradesh to lower sales tax (VAT) on auto fuels and shift towards specific rates.
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.
Here's how political leaders reacted to the government's decision to hike the price of diesel by Rs 5 and limit the number of subsidised gas cylinders to six per household per year.
The principal Opposition party said an immediate cut in petrol and diesel prices was required in the larger interest of the nation. The BJP also demanded that interest rate on housing loans be brought down to 6 per cent and a real push be given for infrastructure development to 'avoid a catastrophe'.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday hoped that the reduction in petrol and diesel prices would to some extent help ease inflation.
The government on Wednesday announced a cut of Rs 2 per litre in petrol and Re 1 in diesel prices from midnight tonight.
The price differential has been upwards of 20%.
