With Opposition parties calling for a nationwide strike against the hike in fuel prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Wednesday justified the decision, saying the increase translated to less than Re 1 per day on domestic LPG and 26-27 paisa a day on kerosene.
The government on Monday approved Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) in cash subsidy to state-owned fuel retailers to make up for half of the revenues they lost on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost in the third quarter.
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.
Implementation of Kirit Parikh Committee recommendations looks bleak and the industry's expectation that all petroleum products including crude oil & natural gas should be included under GST is set to be turned down.
A 14-year old girl, who was allegedly gang raped by five men of her village, set herself ablaze in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura District on Tuesday.
Self-styled godman Nityananda Swami has courted fresh trouble for allegedly using kerosene meant for poor families during his meditation for 'penance' and may face a seven-year jail term if convicted.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is also believed to be in favour of decontrolling auto fuel prices to limit the government's subsidy outgo but a decision is unlikely in the next 7-10 days as United Progressive Alliance managers build political consensus on the issue, an oil ministry official said.
Facing criticism for increasing the retail price of petrol, government-owned Indian Oil Corporation has said the desired increase was actually Rs 3.72 a litre but it chose to "soften the impact on customer" by increasing the price by only Rs 2.50 a litre.
Sources said both Mukherjee and Deora were in favour of Rs 2-3 a litre hike in petrol and diesel prices and Rs 25 per cylinder increase in LPG rates.
The Congress core group is meeting later in the evening where the implementation of Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel pricing reforms may be discussed.
Tension gripped Osmania University campus on Tuesday with another student committing suicide by setting himself ablaze in protest against the delay in formation of Telangana.
An Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to meet on May 21 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices from government control.
The annual under-recoveries of state-run oil marketing companies have been estimated at Rs 1.1 lakh crore, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Currently, the government controls prices of petrol, diesel, domestic liquid petroleum gas and kerosene and compensates public sector firms through a complex mechanism that has squeezed out liquidity with the retailers and drained resources of upstream firms.
Siphoning off food and fuel meant for the poor has made India's public distribution system ineffective.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday ruled out any rollback in the increased prices of petroleum products, saying the hike has been reasonable and minimum. "The hike is reasonable and minimum ...," Deora told reporters here.
The loss, which is made good through government subsidy, has declined since March as the rupee strengthened against the dollar and global oil prices softened.
The fall in global oil prices has trimmed the losses of state-owned oil companies, but it may not be enough to prevent a Rs 4 per litre increase in diesel prices and a Rs 20-25 per cylinder hike in LPG rates later this month.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that diesel prices too will be freed from government control as part of 'much-needed reforms', but LPG and kerosene will continue to be subsidised.
Amid a spate of government proposals at its door, the Election Commission has asked all Union government departments to route their proposals through the Cabinet Secretariat.
A pro-Telangana school student set himself ablaze raising slogans in support of a separate state, leading to tension on the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Saturday.
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After natural gas prices, the government looks set to bite the bullet on auto fuel prices, with a panel of ministers scheduled to meet on June 7 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices.
In yet another case of suicide for the cause of Telangana, a 18-year-old girl student set herself ablaze in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh tonight, police said.
Though the government had earlier this fiscal explicitly decided to compensate Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for the losses they incur on selling domestic LPG and kerosene through PDS by way of oil bonds, the finance ministry has not issued any bonds for the three quarters.
Protests continued in the Rayalaseema and coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth day on Monday against bifurcation of the state.
Three fuel retailers -- Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited -- lost about Rs 26,618 crore (Rs 266.18 billion) in revenues on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first half of the current fiscal, a ministry official said.
Alleging that she had been raped by president of the students' union of her college, a girl set herself on fire in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district and is in a critical condition, police said on Tuesday.
A Telangana sympathiser, who set himself on fire four days ago protesting the arrest of Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, succumbed to his burn injuries in a hospital in Hyderabad.
Transport minister R Ashoka said on Thursday all new autorickshaws registering in the city should be 'green'.
The petrol price hike has added to the woes of the common man.
Food inflation, at almost 17 per cent, along with the rise in fuel prices will be a bitter pill for consumers.
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.
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The room for political manoeuvre to raise petroleum prices is the highest at this point in time, says Business Standard.
State-owned Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum currently lose Rs 180 crore per day.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday hinted at a hike in fuel prices, asserting that a final call on it would be taken by the Group of Ministers in the meeting to be held in New Delhi on June 7.
The Finance Ministry will give Rs 12,000 crore in cash to Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum to cover for less than half of the losses they incurred on selling LPG and kerosene this fiscal.
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