Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) will hold discussions with the Centre and state governments on how the production of compressed biogas (CBG), which can be used in vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG), can be expanded in the country, its majority shareholder Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) said. The demand for CNG vehicles has been rising significantly in the country. MSIL sold 145,000 CNG vehicles in the first quarter of 2024-25, marking a 28.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth.
The windfall tax on oil produced within India and fuel exported overseas will make up for more than three-fourths of the revenue that the government lost when it cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to cool soaring inflation, industry sources said. India on July 1 joined a select league of nations globally that have taxed windfall gains accruing to oil companies from soaring energy prices. The government slapped a Rs 6 per litre tax on the export of petrol and jet fuel (ATF) and Rs 13 a litre on the export of diesel effective July 1. Additionally, a Rs 23,250 per tonne tax was levied on crude oil produced domestically.
Swift Dzire has clocked 2.5 million in sales, and you might, in a non-too-distant future, see headlines that the DZire has done 3 million as well, observes Suveen Sinha.
However, some analysts say RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan may delay the rate cuts amid mounting concerns over the government's fiscal health.
At present, India has 56,999 fuel outlets. Of those, only 6,276 are owned by private companies
The 150cc bike segment in the country is witnessing commendable growth every passing day.
Trumponomics, poor growth, and high valuation certainly don't make a bullish recipe for Indian markets, warns Debashis Basu.
Wholesale inflation rate declined marginally to 0.2 per cent in February compared to 0.27 per cent in the preceding month despite a slight uptick in the food basket. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive in November at 0.26 per cent. The inflation in February 2023 was 3.85 per cent.
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.
The promoter entities of JSW Group are in talks with several electric-car manufacturers in China to launch an electric car for the Indian market at Rs 15-20 lakh, a source close to the development said.
Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, were on Friday hiked by a steep 40 per cent to record levels, in step with global firming up of energy rates. The rate paid for gas produced from old fields, which make up for about two-thirds of all gas produced in the country, was hiked to $8.57 per million British thermal units from the current $6.1, according to an order from the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). Simultaneously, the price of gas from difficult and newer fields like the ones in Reliance Industries Ltd and its partner bp plc operated deepsea D6 block in KG basin, was hiked to $12.6 per mmBtu from $9.92, the order said.
Consumption-related stocks, such as hotels, and quick service restaurants (QSRs), have been hitting the ball out of the park ahead. On the other hand, the Miss World Pageant scheduled for later this year in New Delhi, too, could provide some tailwind to these stocks, especially hotels and aviation. However, analysts suggest investors put their best foot forward and buy these counters only on a decline given the recent rally and economic headwinds.
Indian growth in the rest of this fiscal year and next will be propelled by robust domestic consumption as consumer confidence improves, and by investment, including large increases in government capital expenditure, according to the Asian Development Outlook September 2023. "As slowing exports could foment headwinds for the economy, and erratic rainfall patterns are likely to undermine agricultural output, the growth forecast for FY2023 is revised down marginally to 6.3 per cent," ADB said.
The minister expressed confidence that India will get back to high growth path soon.
IndiGo on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 1,681 crore in the quarter ending March due to Omicron wave, high fuel costs and weakening rupee. This year's Q4 loss was 46.6 per cent more than the loss incurred by the airline in the corresponding period a year ago, the airline's statement mentioned. India's largest airline's total net loss of 2021-22 was Rs 6,161 crore as compared to Rs 5,806 crore net loss that it incurred in 2020-21, it mentioned.
In 2017, a consortium led by Russian state oil company Rosneft agreed to buy Essar Oil for $12.9 billion in India's biggest foreign acquisition of a homegrown company. Rosneft's buyout of Essar's assets was meant to herald a wave of energy investments in India - over six decades after Esso, Caltex and Shell invested in India's refining sector in the 1950s. But the government has tripped up in its efforts to sell Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), formerly Burmah Shell, a blue chip public sector company. Bidders include a couple of global funds and resources firm Vedanta.
Two-wheeler exports from India have decreased by 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 1.69 million units in the first half (H1) of 2023-24 (FY24) due to a challenging geopolitical situation and foreign exchange (forex) crises in key markets such as South Asia, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said on Monday. On the other hand, passenger vehicle (PV) exports in H1FY24 increased by 5 per cent to 336,754 units because the key markets are much more diversified worldwide, Vinod Aggarwal, president, Siam, told reporters during a press conference. The Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has brought significant instability to global fuel prices.
India's crude oil imports from Russia fell for a second straight month in January to its lowest in 12 months but the nation's insatiable appetite for Russian crude remains for the long term, according to data from energy cargo tracker and industry officials. Russia supplied 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil to India in January, down from 1.32 million barrels in December and 1.62 million barrels in November 2023, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia however continues to remain India's top oil supplier, accounting for a little less than a quarter of 4.91 million barrels a day of oil that the world's third largest energy consumer imported in January.
Singapore Airlines' deal with Tata Sons (Tata) will inject a further SGD 360 million ($267 million) into Air India. It will give SIA a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged Air India group following its takeover by Tata and merger with Vistara Airlines. The November 2022 deal between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons to further inject $267 million into Air India is one of the key strategic initiatives for future growth mentioned in the quarterly financial report. This agreement is still subject to regulatory approval. SIA in the statement said, "The merged entity will be four to five times larger in scale compared to Vistara, with a strong presence in all key airline segments in India.
In one of the steepest increases since daily price revision was started, petrol price on Thursday was hiked by 25 paise per litre and diesel by 30 paise as oil companies raised rates for the third straight day to pass on to consumers the increase in international oil prices.
Investor confidence, in general, in the world is weak and that has spilled over in India.
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.
Housing prices increased by up to 11 per cent annually across eight major cities during January-March period of this year due to a rise in demand for residential properties and a sharp hike in rates of construction raw materials, according to a joint report by CREDAI, Colliers and Liases Foras. Delhi-NCR witnessed highest rise in housing prices by 11 per cent to Rs 7,363 per sq ft during January-March 2022 as compared to the year-ago period, as per the first edition of Housing Price-Tracker report by realtors body CREDAI, real estate consultant Colliers and data analytics firm Liases Foras. Hyderabad witnessed 9 per cent increase in housing prices to Rs 9,232 per square feet, while Ahmedabad saw a 8 per cent appreciation to Rs 5,721 per square feet and Kolkata 6 per cent to Rs 6,245 per square feet.
Why does the world's fastest-growing major consumer of energy fail to attract investments in oil and gas? This is a question worth pondering after private sector conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) failed to close a $15-billion downstream asset deal with Saudi Arabia's national oil company, Aramco. It's understandable if multi-billion dollar investments in oil and gas projects or deals involving state companies that need to traverse a complex bureaucracy at state and federal levels and the corridors of ministries unravel. However, Mukesh Ambani-run RIL, India's most successful energy company, is not typically known to fumble on closing deals (Ambani closed deals worth around Rs 2 trillion early last year in telecom and retail with blue chip investors).
The slowdown in corporate revenue growth over the last one year has begun to reflect in India Inc's capital expenditure, or capex. The country's top listed companies are going slow on fresh investment in capacity expansion, in line with a deceleration in their top line growth. The combined fixed assets of the listed companies, excluding banking, finance services and insurance (BFSI) and the government-owned oil & gas firms, were up 10.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) during April-September 2023 (H1FY24) - the slowest in 18 months - as against 21.1 per cent Y-o-Y growth in H2FY23 (October 2022-March 2023) and 11.6 per cent growth in the April-September 2022 period (H1FY23).
In Mumbai, jet fuel will cost Rs 72,830.64 per kl from tomorrow as against Rs 68,103.26 per kl at present.
Realtors' body CREDAI on Monday said the cost of construction has gone up by 20-25 per cent, mainly during the last 45 days, due to steep rise in prices of raw materials like steel, and builders will be forced to increase property prices from next month by an average 10-15 per cent. CREDAI-MCHI, the Maharashtra chapter of CREDAI, demanded that the central as well as state governments consider giving relief to the industry by reducing stamp duty and GST rates, besides allowing input tax credit (ITC) to developers. The association said it would not advise member developers to stop construction works as of now, but if the price rise continues then builders would have no option but to halt works at project sites and defer purchase of raw materials.
Oil and LNG prices are likely to shoot up if Iran is to block Strait of Hormuz, through which countries like India import crude oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and UAE, leading to a spike in inflation, analysts said on the Iran-Israel conflict. The Iran and Israel conflict has escalated over the last few days. Iran first launched drone and rocket attacks on Israel, which retaliated by firing a missile. Crude oil prices have hovered around USD 90 per barrel since the conflict.
Do not underestimate the ingenuity of the Deep State in America to have its way. Keeping the guard down will be a catastrophic mistake on the part of the Delhi establishment. We could get hit when least expected. That's what happened in Bangladesh and Syria, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India, the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, recently offered Saudi Aramco a stake in refineries and petrochemical projects.
Retail inflation softened to 6.71 per cent in July due to moderation in food prices but remained above the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent for the seventh consecutive month. With retail inflation continuing to remain high despite a fall in prices of vegetables and edible oils, among other commodities in July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might go for another rate hike in September. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 7.01 per cent in June and 5.59 per cent in July 2021. It was above 7 per cent from April to June this fiscal.
'The funds were arranged from multiple banks at a very competitive rate and converted into dollars at the best rates.'
Passenger and commercial vehicle prices are expected to rise as automobile companies invest in upgrading vehicles to meet stricter emission norms that kick in from April next year. The Indian automobile industry is currently working to make their products meet the second phase of Bharat Stage VI, equivalent to Euro-VI emission norms, in real time driving conditions. Four-wheeler passenger and commercial vehicles will need more sophisticated equipment to be added to meet the next level of emission standards.
CNG and piped cooking gas prices in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai may be hiked by 10-11 per cent next month as the government-dictated gas price is set to rise by about 76 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a report. The government, using rates prevalent in gas-surplus nations, fixes the price of natural gas produced by firms such as state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) from fields given to them on nomination basis, every six months. The next review is due on October 1.
An average Indian spends no more than Rs 1.3 lakh per year, according to official statistics. This is close to what an average Indian earns annually. At this level of per capita income today, one litre of petrol costs one-third of an average Indian's daily income (Delhi prices), making it highly unaffordable. People in most other Asian and emerging countries find it more affordable.
Prices of natural gas, which is used to generate electricity, make fertiliser and is converted into CNG to run automobiles, is likely to rise to record levels at the rate review scheduled this week, sources said. The government-dictated price for natural gas produced in the country is to be revised on October 1. After factoring in the spike in energy prices witnessed in recent months, the rate paid for gas produced from old fields such as of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is likely to rise to $9 per million British thermal units from current $6.1.
Soaring fuel prices give birth to a jugaad system in Bihar's border towns abutting Nepal with residents smuggling in India-supplied cheaper petrol and diesel from the mountain kingdom.
India's fuel demand in May slumped to its lowest in nine months as restrictions to curb the second wave of COVID infections stalled mobility and muted economic activity. Fuel demand fell 1.5 per cent to 15.1 million tonnes despite the low base of May 2020 and was down 11.3 per cent when compared to the previous month, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry. India was under one of the world's strictest lockdowns in May last year, which brought all mobility and economic activity to a grinding halt.
The sector may be overcrowded with a fair number of large players and the entry of the Adani Group through its two key acquisitions, followed by the takeover of majority stake in Sanghi Industries via Ambuja Cements. Since every major player is in expansion mode, there could be a capacity surplus and hence, price wars.
