Jaswant Singh, a 35 year-old vegetable seller, sprinkled kerosene on his body and set himself ablaze at his shop in the presence of dozens of people while chanting Bum bum bholay in Gagwal village of Kathua district, official sources said in Jammu.
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday said the steps initiated by the government in recent weeks are expected to help control inflation and inflationary expectations. Listing out the possible pressure points, including high oil prices that are expected to stay at elevated levels, the RBI report on Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments in 2007-08 noted that inflation risks due to petroleum prices remained incipient.
The retail losses that the country's oil marketing companies incur on sale of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene at subsidised prices have risen by 7.3 per cent to around Rs 440 crore (Rs 4.4 billion) per day in the fortnight ended March 31.IOC lost Rs 17 for every litre of petrol it sold, up from Rs 14.65 a litre on March 15. It lost Rs 316 per 14.2-kg cylinder, compared with Rs 303.65 per cylinder in the previous fortnight.
State-run retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL may lose about Rs 45,000 crore (Rs 450 billion) on selling auto and cooking fuels below cost this fiscal, two-third of which will be compensated by the government by issuing bonds.
IOC and sister PSUs Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are losing Rs 4.60 on sale of every litre of petrol and Rs 2.33 per litre of diesel currently, IOC director (marketing) G C Dagga told reporters in New Delhi.
The government has cut petrol price by Rs 5 and diesel by 2 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.
The prime minister made the reference about the functioning of the Parliament against the backdrop of the virtual washout of its Monsoon session over various issues.
"Petrol margins will turn positive from Saturday. Based on the average crude price of second fortnight of October, it (margin) should be around Rs 4 a litre," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters. However, the company would continue to make losses on diesel sales at about Rs 1 a litre.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL on Thursday afternoon stopped ATF supplies to Air India at six airports - Kochi, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Vizag and Mohali - over payment defaults. AI flights from these places were tanking up from other airports.
In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old girl was set ablaze by a relative in Japur, who was apparently enraged with her being 'scantily dressed' and wearing a lipstick, police said on Saturday. The girl identified as Nazmeen suffered 90 per cent burns and was stated to be in a critical condition, Investigating Officer Shammi Khan said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed the Rs 225,040 crore (Rs 2250.40 billion) revenue loss oil PSUs face without raising price of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and duty cuts this fiscal on three occasions but failed to give a clear verdict.
Oil firms were supposed to break-even on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene if the price of the basket of crude India buys were to come down to $67 per barrel. However, with 20 per cent depreciation in value of rupee against the dollar, the break-even point is now at $61 a barrel.
With Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum projected to lose Rs 200,000 crore (Rs 2,000 billion) in revenues on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below import cost, industry sources said a hike in the range of Rs 2 to 5 per litre appears on the cards.
The FIIs' stake in Reliance Industries has increased from 20.22 per cent at the end of the March 2007 quarter to 20.85 per cent at the end of the June 2007 quarter, according to the BSE's shareholding pattern data.
Last month, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum were losing Rs 390 crore (Rs 3.9 billion) per day on sale of petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG. This month, losses have come down to Rs 352 crore (Rs 3.52 billion) per day, an industry official said.
Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have seen revenue losses on sale of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene coming down to Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) per day from Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) per day, industry sources said. The basket of crude that India buys has averaged $114.37 a barrel this month as against the July average of $132.47 per barrel.
Indian Oil Corporation sought an increase in prices of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene on Tuesday as spiralling global oil prices had put "enormous" burden and may result in a revenue loss of over Rs 8,500 crore (Rs 85 billion) this fiscal. While the government and oil companies were bearing their share of the burden, the consumers have so far been spared from any hike in fuel prices despite crude oil touching a historic high of $93 per barrel.
Diesel prices are raised every month by up to 50 paise per litre to trim the losses. Rates were last raised on August 1 after which losses had dipped to Rs 1.33.
The Budget emphasises on capacity building and empowerment of marginalised sections of society including farmers.
The state would have to provide free medical assistance to the residents of the affected area marred by sporadic violence.
India exhaled a huge sigh of relief in the weekend as Bhutan's opposition People Democratic Party defeated the incumbent Druk Pheunshum Tshogpa in polls, setting the stage for a renewal of ties that had come frayed in the recent controversy over removal of subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene.
Oil companies have welcomed the hike in petrol and diesel as it will help them cut losses on sale of fuel.
A BUPC member alleged that a woman was attacked by CPI-M activists for her active role in the land acquisition resistance agitation.
Jaiswal, whose blood test reports were negative for HIV, believed that Shrivastava was hiding facts so as to deny him treatment for AIDS, he said.
How do you think could the government cut down petrol costs? Could it cut the duty on petrol? What could it do?
The proposed price increase, the first in 18 months, is likely to be in the range of Rs 2 per litre for petrol and Re 1 per litre for diesel, senior petroleum ministry officials said.
The relentless rise in international oil prices that last week touched an all time high of $135 a barrel has forced the government to mull options to save state-run firms, which expect a revenue loss of Rs 200,000 crore (Rs 2000 billion) this fiscal on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.
The oil ministry is in fact of the view that the government should bear the entire burden of the revenue losses incurred by the oil marketing companies, after the increase in prices is effected.
With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest oil firm, today said it is losing Rs 320 crore (Rs 3.20 billion) a day on fuel sales and may see future projects getting impacted if the current situations continues in 2009. "We are losing about Rs 320 crore a day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene," IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters on the sidelines of 5th Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram later this week to seek greater compensation for oil companies, who are currently losing about Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a day on fuel sales. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see doubling of revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene to Rs 150,000 crore. The three fuel retailers together lost Rs 77,304.50 cr on fuel sale in 2007-08.
The government-appointed Kirit Parikh committee suggested an 'immediately' hike prices of diesel by Rs 5 a litre, Rs 4 per litre in kerosene and Rs 250 per cylinder in LPG, reduce annual entitlement of subsidised cooking gas cylinder from six from nine and phase out diesel subsidy in one year to cut a record subsidy burden.
The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during 2007-08 (upto August) has increased to $68.34 per barrel as compared to 62.46 dollars a barrel during 2006-07.
The Group of Ministers are scheduled to meet this month to decide upon the issue of petro price system.
ONGC and Oil India might be hit because of this additional burden which they might have to take because of crude going to $100 per barrel.
When the state is unable to provide adequately for the bottom half of the population, should it be giving tax benefits to the well-off?
IOC is planning to sell its bonds worth Rs. 2, 000 crores to face the financial crunch caused due to non-revision of fuel price.
ONGC is likely to pay Rs 17,000 cr to subsidise products by the end of this fiscal.
Criticising lack of "appropriate" pricing of petroleum products, the pre-Budget Economic Survey on Monday warned that the current practice of not passing on cost of production to consumers will have serious consequences and said non-resolution of sub
R S Sharma,the new ONGC chief, has set his sight on reversing the decline in production from ageing fields and cutting rising expenditure.
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