The wholesale price-based inflation eased to 15.18 per cent in June on lower prices of manufactured and fuel items, even though food articles remained costly. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was at a record high of 15.88 per cent last month and 12.07 per cent in June last year. The WPI inflation in June has bucked the three-month rising trend but remained in double-digit for the 15th consecutive month beginning April last year.
The government has to take a call on reducing or retaining the excise rate.
The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last 10 days to Rs 6.40 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.81 per litre as against Rs 101.01 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 92.27 per litre to Rs 93.07, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers.
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).
A decision on raising diesel prices by Rs 3-5 per litre, kerosene by Rs 2 and LPG by up to Rs 50 per cylinder will be taken after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi returns from US, top government officials said.
Government's fuel subsidy estimate was based on crude oil at $70.
Maruti Suzuki fears a drop in demand for the auto sector in FY 12
'Investors looking at the next 6-12 months can be certain that the Fed will maintain its easing cycle, and we expect the overall environment to be conducive for fixed income investments for portfolio diversification.'
Petrol and diesel prices were raised for the second day in a row on Wednesday as state-owned fuel retailers resumed daily rate revision after a more than two-week long hiatus during assembly elections in states like West Bengal. Petrol price was increase ford by 19 paise per litre and diesel by 21 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. Petrol in the national capital now costs Rs 90.74 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 81.12 per litre.
Wholesale Price Index-based inflation declined to 6.62 per cent in January, however, retail inflation remained in double digits at 10.79 per cent during the month.
Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday raised its inflation projection to 5.1-4.7 per cent for the second half of the current fiscal on the back of spike in prices of vegetables such as onion and tomatoes.
Affected firms note practical problems in getting discoms, consumers to pay for costlier supply; viability shadow on investments
Gandhi was unusually more proactive and practically led the Opposition protest against the rise in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders during the Question Hour.
The decision to deregulate the diesel prices is expected to bring the oil subsidy down Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion), the agency said, adding the ongoing correction in global crude prices will also result in sizable gains for the government.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the decision could cost the government roughly Rs 15,000 crore.
Though June-quarter performance was impressive, fuel price hikes and falling demand pose fresh challenges for the company.
Hit by soaring fuel prices, the aviation industry is mulling introduction of a "differential fuel surcharge" based on VAT rates in each state to partially offset losses suffered by the air carriers. "Airlines would not be able to survive if the cost of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is so high and competition brings down the fares," V Thulasidas, chairman and managing director, Air India said.
Narendra Modi's landslide victory gives him the mandate to deregulate diesel prices as well as raise natural gas rates with a clear road map towards free pricing to cut subsidies and shrink the budget deficit.
Petrol price on Friday inched closer to the Rs 100-a-litre mark in Mumbai while diesel crossed the Rs 91 mark after oil companies raised rates again. Petrol price was increased by 19 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise a litre, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers. The hike -- 11th this month -- pushed petrol and diesel prices to all-time high levels across the country. In Delhi, petrol rates climbed to Rs 93.04 a litre and diesel rose to Rs 83.80.
Travel by Air India would cost Rs 300-550 more from June 3 following a hike in fuel surcharge in the wake of oil companies raising Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by 18.5 per cent.
The logic of deregulation was that the consumer was protected no matter what the price of crude. But now the reverse has happened. The government is protected no matter what the price of crude, observes Aakar Patel.
Tata Power declared encouraging results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of the 2023-23 financial year (FY24). The firm's revenue rose 5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 15,210 crore. It was driven by higher sales to distribution companies (discoms) and capacity addition in renewables. Company's adjusted profit after tax (PAT) rose 3 per cent to Rs 906 crore with reported PAT at Rs 1,100 crore on a one-time gain of Rs 235 crore.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday ruled out a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel to ease prices, which have touched an all-time high, saying payments in lieu of past subsidised fuel pose limitations. Petrol and diesel as well as cooking gas and kerosene were sold at subsidised rates during the previous Congress-led UPA government. Instead of paying for the subsidy to bring parity between the artificially suppressed retail selling price and the cost that had soared because of international rates crossing $100 per barrel, the then government issued oil bonds totalling Rs 1.34 lakh crore to the state-fuel retailers. These oil bonds and the interest thereon are being paid now.
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.
Unlike some US airlines, Indian carriers are not planning to charge services like baggage handling to beef up their bottomlines, which is hit by a steep hike in fuel prices, but would prefer to keep the options open.The issue came to the fore following a decision by American Airline to impose a $25-15 charge for baggage handling, as the US carriers buckled under steep hike in fuel prices.
Maruti has improved its sales in the recent past.
About two dozen discoveries of the state-owned ONGC, Reliance Industries and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) in KG Basin alone are languishing for want of right price.
Issues like high insurance cost and the announced price hike effective January could also weigh on sales in 2019. The only bright spot is the softening seen in fuel prices over the past month.
Jet Airways on Friday said it will raise fares by 10-15 per cent as early as this month to offset rising jet fuel prices -- a decision that possibly stems from confidence about returning passenger demand.
Rising fuel prices, intense competition and inability to pass on spiralling expenses have been negatively impacting the domestic airlines.
'When you need to revive the economy, when you need to revive aggregate demand, you cut taxes.' 'But what's this government doing?' 'It's increasing taxes for the middle class and the vast majority of the poor on fuel, which has a ratchet effect on most other products.'
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet would adopt a two-pronged strategy - increase airfare and improve efficiency - for better margins, said Neil Mills, chief executive office of Spicejet Limited.
Petrol and diesel prices on Wednesday were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, the third increase this week, propelling petrol price to cross Rs 100 per litre mark in more cities including Bhopal and Indore. Petrol and diesel prices are now at record high across the country, price notification of state-owned fuel retailers showed. In Delhi, petrol now comes for Rs 92.05 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 82.61. This was the third increase in prices this week and seventh hike since May 4 when the state-owned oil firms ended an 18-hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
There are multiple near-term worries for the stock of India's largest listed consumer company, Hindustan Unilever (HUL). While inflationary pressures will weigh on its profitability, demand pressures - especially in the rural market - are expected to hit the firm's revenues. This is why brokerages have cut the earnings estimates for financial year 2022-23 (FY23) by 7-10 per cent.
CNG prices in Mumbai may have to be hiked by about Rs 16 per kg and piped cooking gas by Rs 10 after government decided to divert some of its cheaper domestic gas to Gujarat.
Oil prices slid to a three-week low on Wednesday on expectations of falling global demand after India , the world's sixth largest oil and gas consumer, lowered its fuel subsidies.
Jet fuel constitutes roughly 40 per cent of the operating cost of an airline.
