Raise the price of diesel and restrict supply of subsidised LPG cylinder in a year to four per family, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Panel suggested on Friday.
The government on Tuesday ruled out any further increase in diesel and cooking fuel prices even though the current retail rates are lower than their cost of production.
The government is mulling building a Rs 2,760 crore (Rs 27.60 billion) strategic storage facility by 2007-08 to stock 45-days requirement of liquefied petroleum gas as cover for emergencies.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is to set up three liquefied petroleum gas bottling plants with an investment of Rs 55 crore (Rs 550 million) even as it plans to introduce the 5-kg LPG cylinders in the urban areas.
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 remarks came after former President Ram Nath Kovind was tasked with the responsibility of heading a committee to explore feasibility of "one nation, one election".
As other members of the government have pointed out -- Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu among them -- India cannot afford to delay increasing prices, given the ballooning subsidy bill.
The Reserve Bank on Friday retained the inflation forecast for 2023-24 at 5.4 per cent, and vowed to take timely measures to prevent any spillovers of global food and fuel price shocks. Stressing that the Reserve Bank has identified high inflation as a major risk to macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the September retail inflation number may be lower than August and July prints. The headline inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) moderated to 4.6 per cent in first quarter of 2023-24 as compared to 7.3 per cent in the same period a year ago.
The seeding of LPG database with Aadhar numbers is above 55 per cent and overall Aadhar penetration is 90 per cent in these districts.
The three state-owned fuel retailers have been "directed to stop supplies of LPG refills to households having multiple- connections for which no KYC (Know Your Customer) details have been received, with effect from June 1," a statement issued by Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest oil firm, said.
The government also withdrew the five per cent VAT on compressed natural gas besides bringing back the VAT for tea, coffee and cocoa to five per cent from the proposed 12.5 per cent.
With rupee falling to new lows, losses on diesel and cooking fuel have widened to their highest levels this year, upsetting the government's subsidy maths.
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.
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.
Time opportune before state polls as inflation is moderating.
Modi said there has been a 'silent revolution'.
Referring to long-pending insurance bill, he said "we are on the verge" of opening the sector a little more.
'There are occasions when the prices of individual items like food raise inflation; then supply-side measures must be taken.' 'But if there is continued inflation, it means liquidity is aggravating the situation.'
Margins for the oil refining and retailing sector have moved off their peaks, and the average integrated margins (refining plus marketing) for oil marketing companies (OMCs) have normalised. The ascent in crude oil prices, combined with static retail prices, has depressed marketing margins for diesel and petrol. However, the fall in marketing margins has been offset by increased gross refining margins (GRMs).
The government will phase out subsidies on LPG and kerosene by 2007, petroleum secretary S C Tripathi said on Friday.
The decision was taken at a full commission meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, and communicated to the Union Cabinet, which met to take a call on the matter.
IndianOil Corp Ltd, for instance, saw a growth of around 22 per cent in volumes and nearly two per cent in its market share. It traded nearly 10,517 million tonnes (mt) of auto gas in December against 8,593 mt of auto gas in September.
Maruti Udyog Ltd on Thursday launched an LPG variant of its commercial vehicle Omni Cargo, India's first clean fuel vehicle used for transport applications.
Notwithstanding the robust turnaround in the financial performance for the June quarter (Q1FY24), stocks of state-run oil marketing companies have been in a downtrend in the last month. The fall comes on a rise in crude oil prices that have surged to a 7-month high of $88 a barrel. A busy political calendar in the months ahead that may see the government keep a lid on auto fuel prices is also a dampener, analysts said. Shares of Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) have shed 9-11 per cent since their respective earnings announcement between July 26 to August 4.
The Oil Ministry will raise the cap on supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) to 9 cylinders per household in a year provided the Finance Ministry agrees to give an additional Rs 3,000 crore in 2012-13.
Government has begun drawing contingency plans to avert any shortage of domestic cooking gas as a result of go-slow agitation by employees of the country's largest oil company Indian Oil Corp.
The fire broke out in an area near the Visakhapatnam Container Terminal and an Indian Oil Corporation facility where fishing boats were anchored.
A decision on raising diesel prices by Rs 3-5 per litre, kerosene by Rs 2 and LPG by up to Rs 50 per cylinder will be taken after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi returns from US, top government officials said.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik Friday indicated that prices of domestic cooking gas may be hiked before the Budget to check growing subsidies but said consumer interest will be kept in mind while taking any such decision.
The smaller cylinders will be sold at market rates.
This is prime minister's second visit to Bhutan and the first since his re-election.
The poll panel has asked state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to respond to the notices by 3 pm on Thursday and 7 pm on Friday, respectively.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of the saffron forces and also the country being placed firmly on a new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
In a bizarre incident, a national-level shooter recently lost his left thumb when the 10m air pistol cylinder he was filling exploded, at the Karni Singh Range.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked all chief ministers to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to mitigate the impact of the price hike on the common man.
