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.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday strongly supported the view that petroleum prices in the country should "align with the global price."
We no longer have the ambition to rival China save through words. We are happy to be fighting ourselves and digging up disputes from centuries ago as a substitute for real development, argues Aakar Patel.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday announced country wide protest programme for two days beginning Wednesday against the hike in the prices of petroleum products.
The proposed move would lead to dismantling of the administered price mechanism.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
The government on Monday said it would not free diesel prices from its control in hurry as the move would lead to sharp rise in price of fuel most used in the transport sector.
Left parties on Monday opposed any increase in petrol and diesel prices in step with the hike in global oil prices and higher taxes, and asked the government to restructure duties to protect the consumers.
A higher government borrowing will 'crowd-out' the private borrowing and push interest rates higher.
Concerned over crude oil prices touching a record $64 a barrel in the international market, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said the Cabinet will decide on raising domestic fuel prices in line with the spurt.
No change in retail prices as oil marketing firms to absorb increase
The government on Thursday decided not to increase petrol and diesel prices, and issue oil bonds worth Rs 23,457 crore (Rs 234.57 billion) to partly compensate public sector oil companies for the losses incurred on fuel sales."We have kept our promise of not raising prices of sensitive petroleum products," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told PTI after a meeting of the Cabinet.
Prices of petrol and diesel will not be reduced immediately as oil companies continue to make losses even after the recent fall in international oil prices, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday.
The rise in petro-product prices have been necessitated by rising global costs of petroleum and the fact that the price of petrol and diesel has not been increased in India since January 2004.
Home-grown automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra, whose sales are predominantly driven by diesel-powered utility vehicles, has said an increase of Rs 5 a litre in the price of the fuel or a differential of up to 20 per cent with petrol price will not impact vehicle sales.
Amid news of a fuel shortage in some parts of the country and wider unrest over fuel issues in the neighbourhood, an analysis of the data from international tracker globalpetrolprices.com shows that the per litre price of petrol is higher in India than in seven out of its nine neighbours.
Perhaps for the first time, petrol in India costs more than the superior jet fuel (ATF) used in aeroplanes, as the government has levied a record excise duty on the fuel used in two-wheelers and cars.
The government is exploring various options, including a marginal hike in prices of petrol and diesel, and a possible duty cut to ease burden on state-run oil firms that are increasingly losing revenue due to global crude prices surging close to $100 a barrel. "We will do all that is possible to protect the interests of our PSUs," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said after a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue on Friday.
The Freedom 125 has sold 8,310 units in October to date. This is its highest since it was launched in July and may touch close to 9,000 by the end of the month.
Parliament failed to transact any business on Monday as the Opposition members created uproar over hike in fuel prices and demanded immediate rollback.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday reported a 7.4 per cent rise in its December quarter net profit, as its retail business rebounded and telecom earnings rose. Its consolidated net profit of Rs 18,540 crore, or Rs 13.70 per share, in October-December - the third quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal (FY25) - compared to Rs 17,265 crore, or Rs 12.76 a share, in the same period a year back, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
The auto major is not just looking at domestic sales, but also planning to ramp up exports to key markets from here, like the Middle East, North Africa and Australia.
Petrol, diesel prices hiked by Re 1/ litre
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.
Clean air needs action all year round; and that it will work only if we act jointly and at scale, asserts Sunita Narain.
Key United Progressive Alliance allies Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday mounted pressure on the Centre to rollback the steep hike in petrol price with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee leading a street march in Kolkata against the government of which her party is a part.
The government has no immediate plans to raise petrol and diesel prices even though raw material costs have surged to their highest level this year, Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said on Thursday.
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.
Petrol prices may be cut by as much as Rs 1-1.50 per litre next week on falling international oil rates and appreciating rupee but a one-time hike in diesel and possibly LPG rates is still on the cards.
The government on June 25 deregulated petrol price and said the same for diesel will be done soon. But with inflation rate continuing to remain at unmanageable levels, the government put-off the decision as any further hike in diesel price would lead to cascading effect.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
A source said on Tuesday that 'petroleum ministry is likely to propose deregulation of petrol prices and gradual phasing out of subsidies on diesel to ease burden on public sector oil marketing companies' -- indicating a possible hike of Rs 3 per litre in petrol rates.
With nearly 100 launches and unveils, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, held in Delhi from January 17 to 22, made one thing clear to automobile enthusiasts: Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way ahead for the Indian auto market for years to come.
A top oil ministry official said it will be "suicidal" to even think of raising prices of diesel, LPG or kerosene just before Parliament is to meet.
The high-level Chaturvedi Committee has recommended raising petrol prices by Rs 2.50 a litre per month till March 2009 and diesel prices by Rs 0.75 per litre till 2010 to eliminate subsidies on the two fuels.
Compact sedans (Maruti Dzire, Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor)' share in the overall sedan category grew from 68% in 2021 to 74.6% in 2024. Mid-sedans' (Honda City, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Virtus) share declined from 26.2% in 2021 to 20.2%.
The oil companies will meet on Friday for the review meeting on pricing in which petrol price could be increased by Re 1 and diesel prices by 50 paise by this weekend.
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