New schemes allows consumers without Aadhaar to receive cash directly in their bank accounts
After the increase, cost of a subsidised 14.2-kg cylinder will be Rs 417 a cylinder from Rs 414 in Delhi.
In a bold suggestion, Minister of State for Petroleum R P N Singh today said affluent people should voluntarily stop buying subsidised LPG and said he will be the first person to pay market price for the fuel, which is Rs 287 per cylinder more than the current rate.
The Kelkar Committee has recommended sharp reduction in subsidies on petroleum, food and fertiliser, which the government said was contrary to its policy of protecting the poor.
Govt targets 1 cr consumers to give up LPG subsidy.
The government is likely to extend by two more years subsidies on LPG and kerosene while asking the state-run oil firms to bear part of the Rs 14,000 crore under-recoveries due to unchanged prices despite a rise in the cost of raw material.
The government on Tuesday increased the distributors' commission on domestic cooking gas (LPG) by 38 paise on a 14.2 kg cylinder and by 20 paise on a 5 kg cylinder, resulting in an equivalent increase in the prices of the fuel.
A 14.2-kg LPG cylinder that consumers will have to buy after they exhaust their enhanced quota of 9 subsidised bottles in a year, will cost Rs 942 from today, according to Indian Oil Corporation.
State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) reported a weak performance in the fourth quarter of FY24 (January-March 2024), and the turmoil in the energy market indicates it could endure another lacklustre quarter. The oil marketing company (OMC) reported an Ebitda of Rs 10,400 crore, down 27 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) due to weak reported gross refining margin (GRM) of $8.4 per barrel in Q4FY24, which was almost half the consensus expectation of $15 per barrel.
Domestic cooking gas consumers in Delhi and Mumbai will from Wednesday get cash subsidy for buying cooking gas refils as the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) Scheme will be extended to 105 more districts.
The government is looking into demands for raising the cap on supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) cylinders per households, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said.
Describing DBT for LPG as a 'tremendous success,' Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said the programme, when implemented throughout the country, would help save Rs 8,000-9,000 crore (Rs 80-90 billion) of subsidy from going to unintended beneficiaries.
Industry think-tank TERI has demanded an end to government dictats on pricing of petroleum products and sought subsidies on domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene to be directly provided to consumers.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra released the Congress' manifesto for Uttarakhand on Wednesday promising to reserve 40 per cent jobs for women in the police department, jobs to four lakh people, and creation of a 'tourism police' force.
He felt particularly upset with the Left parties protesting on issues such as cooking gas and electricity prices and 'aam admi' pursuits rather than the broader picture.
Sniping at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said its rally in New Delhi was intended to create a false bravado for the demoralised cadre of the ruling party which has failed to address serious concerns over corruption and multiple scams.
The price of subsidised cooking gas was on Tuesday hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder, the sixth increase in rates in five months, while that of jet fuel was raised by a steep 7.3 per cent in step with global trends.
The new system will entail a periodic revision in the price of subsidised LPG cylinders so that the subsidy remains fixed.
State-run oil marketing companies on Monday raised the security deposit for new cooking gas (LPG) connections to Rs 1,250 from the existing Rs 850 per cylinder, as also the price of cylinder regulator due to increase in input costs.
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.
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.
Iran has sought a 20 per cent increase in price for the additional 2.5 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas that India wants to buy, over and above the five million tonnes contracted earlier this week.
The excise duty cut will translate into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre on petrol and Rs 7 a litre in diesel after taking into account its impact on other levies.
Under-realisation on selling domestic LPG and kerosene through public distribution system is likely to be around Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) during the current fiscal, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Monday.
The staggered increase in kerosene rate may not have the same impact of freeing up the fuel price as for diesel.
In a much relief to the common man, Oil Minister Veerppa Moily said that the cap on subsidised liquefied petroleum cylinders is to go up to 9 in a year.
IOC and other oil firms have been paying LPG consumers in 54 districts up to Rs 500 to help them buy a 14.2-kg cooking gas refill at market price, which is more than double of Rs 410 per bottle rate in Delhi.
Dharmendra Pradhan lays bare the next course of action for his ministry and says RIL will have to pay the same price at which it produced the volumes.
Experts say having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.
Important pieces of legislation held up because of opposition by the Trinamool Congress could be cleared in two months, top government managers told Business Standard.
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha on Monday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government's policies for the price rise and accused it of ignoring the plight of common people, saying kitchens will soon "see a lockdown" if the Centre does not take corrective measures.
A CNN-IBN Urban India Ooinion Poll shows the recent economic reform move of the government has not gone down well with the urban India. The poll shows that while the price rise and corruption remain the major concerns for the urban India, there is also a massive anger over cap on LPG subsidy and diesel price hike among the people across the cities.
The government on Thursday more than doubled the price of natural gas that is used to produce electricity, make fertilisers, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking, on the back of a spike in global energy prices. The price of gas produced from old regulated fields, such as the nation's largest gas field of Bassein of ONGC, will rise to a record high of $6.10 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) from the current $2.90 per mmBtu, according to the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The new price, which is likely to result in a hike in CNG and piped cooking gas rates, will be for six months beginning April 1.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, charged the government with not delivering on its various promises, including generating two crore jobs per year.
