The petrol price hike has added to the woes of the common man.
International oil prices jumped to the highest level since 2014, topping $87 a barrel but domestic petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for the 74th day in a row - a freeze that may be linked to ensuing assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Brent - the key global oil benchmark - soared to $87.7 per barrel mostly due to rising geopolitical tensions and supply-side disturbances due to Yemen's Houthi group's attack on oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates. Also, global inventories are waning. The attack, some analysts believe, may lead to more hostile behaviour between the two power centres in the Middle East - Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs 2 per litre each as state-owned oil companies ended a nearly two-year-long hiatus in rate revision, just hours before the general election schedule was announced.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may convene a meeting of Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Oil Minister Murli Deora within a week to discuss fuel pricing and taxation regime on the sensitive products.
India's fuel sales surged past pre-pandemic levels in March on twin impact of the economy rebounding from the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions and anticipation of price increases leading to stocking. In the first two weeks of March, dealers, as well as the public, topped up their tanks in anticipation of an increase in prices that had been on hold in the run-up to the elections in states like Uttar Pradesh. While daily price revisions restarted on March 22, the increases were calibrated.
The government has hiked gold import duty to 15 per cent from 10.75 per cent to check the current account deficit (CAD) and rising import of the yellow metal. The duty changes came into effect on June 30. Earlier, the basic customs duty on gold was 7.5 per cent, now it will be 12.5 per cent.
Both TMC and CPI-M today walked out from Rajya Sabha opposing fuel price hike.
Oil companies choose to skip the revision this time.
The government is likely to take a decision on revising fuel prices by the end of this month, petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Monday.
The price of subsidised cooking gas was on Tuesday hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder, the sixth increase in rates in five months, while that of jet fuel was raised by a steep 7.3 per cent in step with global trends.
Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Thursday said if actors Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar do not take a stand on the issue of fuel price hike, then screening of their films and shootings would not be allowed in the state.
'There will be a series of rate hikes, but the pace and quantum will depend on how the economy in the US and the rest of the world behave.'
Opposition leaders led by senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi on August 3 took out a cycle march to the Parliament as a symbolic protest against the rising fuel in the country.
The Reserve Bank on Friday raised the inflation projection for current fiscal year to 4.8 per cent from 4.5 per cent with Governor Shaktikanta Das saying lingering food price pressures are likely to keep headline inflation elevated in the December quarter. Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation increased sharply in September and October 2024 led by an unanticipated increase in food prices.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the government would talk to its allies on the issue of fuel price hike but gave enough hints that a rollback would be difficult.
After some enforced slowdown in offtake during April-May 2024 due to elections, the cement sector is looking at a possible demand rebound which may help it to push up prices. The April'24 offtake was muted while May'24 saw some improvement with a likely 5-6 per cent rise in demand month-on-month (MoM). In June, some price hikes seem to have been taken, which suggests more sustained improvement in demand.
With the losses incurred by oil marketing companies (OMC's) on selling regulated fuels below their market prices (under-recoveries) reaching alarming levels, an urgent corrective action, like hiking the price of diesel, has become imperative, says a Crisil study.
Rates have been on the upswing since October, 2016.
The issue of price rise is a worry for every government -- it is a political volcano. But the United Progressive Alliance on Friday steeply hiked the fuel price. Will people react? Or do they remain silent and suffer? Abhishek Mande talks to experts to 'read' the pulse.
Petrol price on Tuesday crossed Rs 99 a litre mark in Mumbai after oil companies raised petrol and diesel rates on surge in international oil prices. Petrol price was increased by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The hike - tenth this month - pushed petrol and diesel prices to an all-time high across the country. In Delhi, petrol rates climbed to Rs 92.85 a litre and diesel rose to Rs 83.51.
The goverment on Wednesday ruled out any increase in petrol and diesel prices despite international crude oil prices touching an all-time high.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may go for a hike of up to 0.25 per cent in the reverse repo rate at which the RBI absorbs excess liquidity and leave the repo rate at which it lends, to narrow the policy rate corridor, a British brokerage said on Thursday. "Growth concerns amid spread of the Omicron variant and relatively benign inflation out-turns provide the RBI with enough room to maintain its growth-supportive monetary policies," analysts at Barclays said, ahead of the resolution announcement next week. The RBI will hike the reverse repo rate by 0.20-0.25 per cent, given its liquidity management actions, it said.
Ahead of the much anticipated meeting of a high power panel of ministers, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Friday said his ministry has made no specific proposal on increasing auto and cooking fuel prices.
The finance ministry has rejected a cut in duties to avoid an increase in petro prices even as Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will begin a consensus-building exercise within the UPA for a fuel price hike.
"Petroleum Ministry has moved a Cabinet note for raising fuel prices but a decision will depend on what allies of the ruling alliance say," an official said.
Move comes in view of big debt overhang in two sectors; companies unwilling.
Move comes in view of big debt overhang in two sectors; companies unwilling.
Petrol price on Tuesday was increased by 15 paise per litre and diesel by 18 paise as State-owned fuel retailers started passing on the increase in international oil prices to consumers after an 18-day hiatus.
Petroleum retailers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, among other cities, will start supplying Euro-IV compliant auto fuel from April 1.
Brent crude oil prices have risen to about $116 a barrel from about $103 a barrel on July 1.
The Maharashtra government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre respectively, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in Mumbai on Thursday.
Rising crude oil prices and muted passenger traffic in the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24) have raised concerns about the profitability of listed aviation players. These two concerns have caused the stock of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), the largest player in the sector, to slip by 11 per cent since its highs at the end of July. Nuvama Research expects yields to cool down in the near term due to seasonality, rising crude oil prices, and higher capacity.
Jet Airways on Wednesday said that it has raised the fuel surcharge on tickets by Rs 400 across all domestic sectors. The newly decided fares have been made applicable from June 17.
Petrol price will be cheaper by 49 paise/litre and diesel by Rs 1.21.
Brokerages expect a further slowdown in Indian firms' revenue and earnings growth in Q4FY25, following low single-digit growth in the preceding three quarters, as factors like weak consumer demand and credit growth linger on.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Wednesday, taking the total increase in rates in 16 days to Rs 10 per litre.
Inflation in 'fuel and power' basket rose sharply to 11.22 per cent in May from 7.85 per cent in April as prices of domestic fuel increased in line with rising global crude oil rates.
