Kerosene and domestic LPG prices in India are the lowest in South Asia, while the rates for petrol and diesel are comparable with its neighbours, petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Thursday. Kerosene in Pakistan costs Rs 34.89 a litre, Rs 30.53 in Bangladesh, Rs 21.26 in Sri Lanka and Rs 34.35 per litre in Nepal.
The state-owned refiner has offered 15,000 tonnes in a tender.
The government on Wednesday put on hold a hike in LPG prices in states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, where an increase in local levies had led to a rise in fuel rates.
Deora told Business Standard that a substantial volume of kerosene was also smuggled across the border, since the prices there were much higher. He added the government may have to rework various measures taken so far to curb the menace.
Government has scrapped kerosene imports by private companies and decided that only state-run firms will import the fuel to end its adulteration in diesel.
It proposed that smart cards be issued to BPL families for supply of subsidised kerosene in urban and semi-urban areas to cut diversion of the fuel to unintended users. The panel also suggested a cash transfer system, whereby funds can be transferred to BPL families through a banking or postal system for purchasing of kerosene, instead of supplying the fuel much below the market price.
The government will phase out subsidies on LPG and kerosene by March 2007, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Sumitra Mahajan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.\n\n\n\n
The government on Wednesday ruled out any hike in the prices of LPG and kerosene in the face of war threats hovering over Iraq but said deposit money for LPG cylinders might come down in a couple of days.
Currently, oil companies sell kerosene at a loss of about Rs 18 per litre.
Two days after a local oil mafia in Maharashtra burnt alive an additional collector, the government on Thursday unveiled steps including re-introduction of a chemical marker in kerosene to reduce opportunities of the subsidised fuel being diverted for adulteration.
In a bid to minimise the impact of recent fuel price hike on consumers, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel and kerosene by two per cent.
The government on Friday decontrolled petroleum prices to bring fuel costs in line with global oil rates after an Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, met for the second time in less than three weeks to decide on raising fuel prices. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was absent again.
A Parliamentary committee on Friday asked the government to stop import of kerosene by private sector retailers as the imported fuel is being used for adulteration of diesel.
The government has allowed Reliance Industries Ltd and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd to sell kerosene outside the public distribution system, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.
The government on Monday constituted an inter-ministerial task force under UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani for evolving mechanisms to provide direct subsidies on kerosene, cooking gas and fertilisers to intended beneficiaries.
Central Excise - Kerosene used for extraction of paraffin retrospective exemption to returned kerosene no unjust enrichment refund entitled : Madras High Court
With a high-powered ministerial panel on fuel pricing being scrapped, a cabinet committee may consider raising the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy indicated on Wednesday but refused to say when the issue would be taken up.
Diesel prices may be hiked by Rs 10 per litre over a 10-month period and kerosene rates increased by same quantum over the next two years if a proposal being mulled in the Oil Ministry is accepted.
The three government oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, are losing Rs 320 crore a day as they sell at subsidised rates.
With assembly polls in four crucial states in mind, the government has decided not to increase prices of cooking gas and kerosene for a year.
While LPG price was raised by Rs 18, kerosene saw a hike of Rs 3 per litre
While hinting that further cut in petrol and diesel prices was likely during the next revision, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Saturday ruled out any possibility of increase in prices of LPG and kerosene
The CM has announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those killed.
The ministry is preparing a draft note for consideration of the CCPA on pricing of diesel, kerosene and LPG, official sources said.
After reducing duties on petroleum products, the Centre has now asked the states to follow suit.
Empowered group of ministers on fuel pricing was likely to meet soon.
Making a case for raising prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, the Reserve Bank on Tuesday said hike in rates of petroleum products is necessary to arrest fiscal slippages.
Nobel Laureate Al Gore has warned that black carbon emissions from the kerosene powered lamps and stoves of the subcontinent will adversely impact the great rivers that are the lifeblood of India's agrarian economy.
The government will phase out subsidies on LPG and kerosene by 2007, petroleum secretary S C Tripathi said on Friday.
The Indian Oil Corporation has taken a hit of about Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) in the first quarter of the current fiscal on selling subsidised LPG and Kerosene below the cost.
'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
The government has hiked diesel price by Rs 5 per litre, effective midnight tonight.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday denied having presented to the Cabinet a proposal for raising LPG and kerosene prices.
Price of petrol may go up by Rs 4.70 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.30 a litre.
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