The cabinet committee on economic affairs will meet this evening to decide on the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene, petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
Petrol and diesel prices in the national capital have been raised marginally following the state government's decision to levy sales tax on the two auto fuels.
Still battling the fallout of last month's steep Rs 7.54 a litre hike in petrol price, the government on Friday said it is not considering raising rates of diesel, domestic gas (LPG) and kerosene for the moment.
Petrol now costs Rs 59.99 per litre as against Rs 59.03 a litre previously.
Sitharaman raised excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on the auto fuels by Rs 2 per litre each to raise over Rs 28,000 crore.
With consensus on raising petrol, diesel and domestic LPG prices still eluding, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs will meet early Wednesday morning. If a consensus is hammered at the CCPA meeting, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs may be convened, government sources said.
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.
It is high time that petrol and diesel prices were decontrolled taking advantage of low inflation and global crude prices, the Economic Survey said, while criticising the government for its "imperfect" handling of oil price hike.
Petrol price was on Friday cut by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre after an excise duty hike limited the benefit of global crude prices slumping to six-year low.
The announcements of price revision shall result in net incremental revenues to the tune of (Rs 14,700 crore) Rs 147 billion in FY05.
After hike in rates of petrol, diesel and LPG, the prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens (PNG) in the national capital were hiked on Thursday by Re 1. CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 59.01 per kg from Rs 58.01, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital. This is the third increase in CNG rates this month, which follows a spike in input (natural gas) prices across the globe.
Oil companies choose to skip the revision this time.
More than a week after state-owned oil firms ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus on revising fuel prices, petrol and diesel rates have touched record highs.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
Government needs to rethink its over-dependency on imported petrol, and come up with ways to stabilise the Indian rupee.
Facing all-round criticism for a steep hike of Rs 1.80 a litre in petrol price, state-owned oil companies on Friday said they will roll back the increase in rate if the government gives a directive to that effect.
In 12 hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 6.55 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.04 a litre.
This will have an impact on inflation as everyone in the value chain passes on the costs.
The positive impact of the February 14 hike in petrol and diesal prices on oil marketing companies has been negated in just a fortnight with daily retail losses of these companies going back to over Rs 410 crore (Rs 4.1 billion) for the fortnight ended February 29. This is due to the steep rise in global crude prices in recent days. The retail prices were hiked by Rs 2 per litre for petrol and Re 1per litre for diesel.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice while the opposition parties staged a walkout in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, voicing their protest against the increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas LPG.
UPA's largest ally Trinamool Congress on Friday strongly protested the unilateral petrol price hike, but said it has not taken any decision to pull out of the government and entrusted party supremo Mamata Banerjee to have the 'final word' on the issue.
The government does not seem inclined, at least in the petroleum sector, to effect sudden and steep upward price revisions to tame its huge subsidy burden and rein in fiscal deficit.
Within a day of the announcement of the increase in fuel prices by Union government, the electronic-bike manufacturers have witnessed record sales in their bikes and received lot of enquiries for setting up dealers network across the country. "Hike in petrol prices is a positive development for the e-bike industry and we expect it will boost the sales of battery driven bikes by at least 5-10 per cent," Avon Cycles Senior Manager (Marketing), U S Dubey said.
The recent issues dogging West Asia have become a major cause for concern due to the spike in the crude oil prices.
The government, however, stood firm, ruling out any immediate rollback but promising to reduce the prices as and when the international crude prices drop. It went on to assert that the increase in the fuel rates was minimal, keeping in mind the 'interests of the aam aadmi.' Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said, "In view of the continuous rise in global crude prices, a marginal increase had become unavoidable."
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Petrol price was cut by Rs 2.43 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.60 a litre, the third reduction in rates this month.
Petrol and diesel prices across the country soared to all-time high levels on Thursday as rates were hiked again in line with the spurt in international oil prices. Petrol price was increased by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 103.24 a litre and to Rs 109.25 per litre in Mumbai, the notification showed.
She charged the government with profiteering at the expense of the people, saying its duty was to help them in times of crisis and not make profits out of their hard-earned money.
IOC said the movement of prices in the international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely
TMC MPs were told about the problem in running an economy of India's size and the problems of public finance.
India is back on the diplomatic table pushing oil producing countries to raise production in a bid to cool down runaway oil prices. Brent crude oil prices traded above $90 a barrel, on Thursday, for the first time since 2014. Brent is the most popular marker for crude oil trade. It is used as a benchmark for two-thirds of the world's internationally traded crude oil.
In Mumbai it now costs Rs 80.89 and in Delhi Rs 72.26.
Jet fuel prices on Monday were hiked by a steep 5.3 per cent - the tenth straight increase this year -- to an all-time high, in line with a surge in global energy prices. The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) -- the fuel that helps aeroplanes fly -- was hiked by Rs 6,188.25 per kilolitre, or 5.29 per cent, to Rs 1,23,039.71 per kl (Rs 123 per litre) in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This is the 10th straight increase in jet fuel prices this year.
Jet fuel prices on Wednesday were hiked by over 18 per cent -- the steepest ever increase -- to all-time high levels after international oil price surged to a multi-year high.
While the share of diesel vehicles sales in the overall passenger car industry has already fallen sharply, sales of CNG vehicles have shown a compound annual growth rate of 15.5 per cent over the past five years.
Brent crude oil prices have risen to about $116 a barrel from about $103 a barrel on July 1.
Petrol and diesel prices on Friday rallied to their highest ever levels across the country, as fuel rates were hiked again by 35 paise a litre. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 105.14 a litre and Rs 111.09 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 101.78 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs Rs 93.87.