No change in retail prices as oil marketing firms to absorb increase
Petrol price is to go up by 30 paisa per litre, diesel by 18 paisa as government decides to hike petrol pump dealers commission.
International crude oil prices crossed the $60 a barrel mark yesterday--up from a record low of $32.40 in December last year--on the back of improved sentiment over the economic recovery, especially in China and Europe.
With Brent crude oil prices dipping below $100 per barrel, petrol prices may be cut by Re 1 a litre and there is also a likelihood of first reduction in diesel rates in seven years.
Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday climbed to fresh highs in the country as rates were hiked by the most in recent times, even as fuel retailers said the government can cut taxes to ease consumer burden. Petrol and diesel price was hiked by 35 paise per litre each after a gap of a week, according to price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The increase took petrol prices to a fresh high of Rs 86.65 a litre in Delhi and to Rs 93.20 in Mumbai.
Faced with opposition from within the ruling coalition, the government has put-off till at least next week a decision on raising fuel prices that have been necessitated due to crude nearing $100 a barrel globally. The petroleum ministry has planned to take to the Cabinet this week a proposal to either marginally raise petrol and diesel prices or cut duties to offset the impact of raising international oil prices but the proposal is not being pursued this week.
"Petroleum Ministry has moved a Cabinet note for raising fuel prices but a decision will depend on what allies of the ruling alliance say," an official said.
Petrol price may be cut by as much as Rs 4 a litre from
Facing criticism for increasing the retail price of petrol, government-owned Indian Oil Corporation has said the desired increase was actually Rs 3.72 a litre but it chose to "soften the impact on customer" by increasing the price by only Rs 2.50 a litre.
State oil firms on Wednesday raised jet fuel (aviation turbine fuel) price by 5 per cent in line with the spike in international oil prices, which have touched a record $71 US a barrel.
The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre.
Gandhi said the one paisa cut in petrol rates was not a "suitable response" to the fuel challenge he threw to the prime minister a few days ago.
Diesel in Mumbai costs Rs 79.72 per litre at IOC outlets and Rs 79.79 at BPCL outlets.
The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, sources said. Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers. Worst hit are private retailers like Nayara Energy, Jio-bp and Shell, who have so far refused to curtail any volume despite a surge in sales.
The domestic car market, which sees sales of almost one diesel car for every petrol car sold, will see demand for diesel-powered cars to hit the roof.
With fuel being the main input cost for the transport sector, rise in cost of operations is a given. The sector is unsure on the extent of being able to pass this on through rentals or to absorb it with higher volumes.
petroleum minister has announced that fuel prices would not be hiked and talks with allies on the issue were on.
CNG and piped cooking gas prices in cities such as Delhi and Mumbai may be hiked by 10-11 per cent next month as the government-dictated gas price is set to rise by about 76 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a report. The government, using rates prevalent in gas-surplus nations, fixes the price of natural gas produced by firms such as state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) from fields given to them on nomination basis, every six months. The next review is due on October 1.
Petrol prices may be hiked by Rs 0.65 per litre this week if state-owned oil firms manage to get political approval for the move.
With global crude oil prices climbing to their highest level in two-and-a-half years, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Friday said a ministerial panel will take a call on raising petrol and diesel prices.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai launched a scathing attack on Congress, stating that the party takes "pleasure" in insulting Bihar and its people.
Both TMC and CPI-M today walked out from Rajya Sabha opposing fuel price hike.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday ruled out a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel to ease prices, which have touched an all-time high, saying payments in lieu of past subsidised fuel pose limitations. Petrol and diesel as well as cooking gas and kerosene were sold at subsidised rates during the previous Congress-led UPA government. Instead of paying for the subsidy to bring parity between the artificially suppressed retail selling price and the cost that had soared because of international rates crossing $100 per barrel, the then government issued oil bonds totalling Rs 1.34 lakh crore to the state-fuel retailers. These oil bonds and the interest thereon are being paid now.
The new prices will be effective from Friday midnight.
A proposal in the Union Budget 2022-23 to raise excise duty on dirtier, unblended retail petrol and diesel has met with some resistance from the petroleum ministry. However, finance ministry officials say no such communication arguing against the levy of extra duty on diesel has been received from the oil ministry. Until there are discussions between the two departments, the proposal will not be tweaked in the Finance Bill. The Rs 2 per litre additional excise duty proposed on unblended fuels in the Finance Bill will result in a uniform hike of diesel prices across the country from October 1.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last 10 days to Rs 6.40 per litre. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.81 per litre as against Rs 101.01 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 92.27 per litre to Rs 93.07, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers.
Dr Manmohan Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, had to literally face a trial-by-fire to ensure widespread acceptance of his path-breaking Union Budget of 1991 that saw the nation rise from its darkest financial crises.
Even as the Opposition is going hammer and tongs to enforce the nationwide strike call against the petrol price hike on Thursday, the common man seems to be backing off from joining the protest.
There are 42 countries where the fuels costs more than India.
A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh
India, the world's third largest oil importing and consuming nation, is likely to save as much as Rs 1.8 lakh crore on import of crude oil and LNG if the trend of softening international energy rates continues, Icra said Wednesday. India, which meets over 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports, spent $242.4 billion on buying crude from overseas in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025.
A series of rises in petrol price following its decontrol on June 25 last year has increased the state governments' earnings from value added tax on petrol by around 21 per cent.
Govt hikes excise duty on petrol, diesel to mop up Rs 2.5K-cr.
Petrol costs more in India than Pakistan.
Petrol price has been cut by 58 paise a litre and diesel by 25 paise with effect from midnight tonight.
The German carmaker will hike prices of its best selling cars in Indiafrom February citing increased inputs costs and changes in the exchange rate.
Honda Cars India Ltd is looking to hike prices of its entire product range in the country from the first week of January as it aims to partially offset the effects of adverse exchange rate and inflation.
According to estimates, if the companies are not allowed to raise petrol rates at least Rs 5 a litre by the first fortnight of September, they might begin to suffer underrecoveries on this decontrolled auto fuel, too -- for the first time this financial year.
In Delhi, petrol price down Rs 2.5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2.25
Former Petroleum Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Naik on Wednesday flayed the Congress-led government for raising the LPG prices, saying the burden on the common man could have been avoided by cutting duties.
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