Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Tuesday reported halving of its March quarter net profit largely because of losses in the petrochemical business and shrinking margin after it announced a pre-election fuel price cut despite rising input costs. The net profit of Rs 4,837.69 crore in January-March compared to Rs 10,058.69 crore a year back and Rs 8,063.39 crore in the preceding October-December quarter, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
The proposal was under consideration of the Cabinet, Sarthak Behuria, chairman, Indian Oil Corporation, told reporters in Chennai after presiding over a memorandum of collaboration event.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar over the steep Rs 2.35 a litre hike in petrol price and 50 paisa a litre increase in cost of diesel.
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.
Oil marketing companies on Friday cut petrol price by 32 paise, and diesel by 85 paise a litre with effect from midnight tonight.
The oil companies were making a margin of close to Rs 2 per litre, but considering the impact of rise in gasoline rate and appreciation in rupee, the net available margin may be just around Re 1 per litre.
Oil companies on Monday slashed petrol price by Rs 3.02 per litre.
In Delhi, petrol price down Rs 2.5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2.25
After Delhi, CNG price in Mumbai has been hiked by Rs 1.50 per kg and the rate of cooking gas piped to houses by Re 1 due to rise in input costs. Mahanagar Gas Ltd, which retails CNG to automobiles and piped natural gas to households for cooking purposes in Mumbai and surrounding cities, said the increased prices will come into effect from the intervening night of July 8 and 9.
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.
Last year witnessed a growth rate of 10.8 per cent against a 13.9 per cent rise in 2009-10.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday said it is not possible to bring petrol and diesel under the GST regime for the next eight to 10 years as it would cause an annual revenue loss of Rs 2 lakh crore to all states. Centre and states collectively collect over Rs 5 lakh crore tax on petroleum products, Modi told the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on the Finance Bill 2021. The statement assumes significance in view of the rise in petrol price for the past over one year which even touched Rs 100 per litre in some states. In the first reduction in rates in over a year, petrol price on Wednesday was cut by 18 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise a litre as international oil prices tumbled to the lowest since early February.
Diesel prices are still under control with subsidies.
Six non-BJP ruled states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT on petroleum products, leading to higher prices of petrol and diesel there, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. Puri said in Lok Sabha that the central government has reduced excise duty on petroleum products and some other states, following cues, reduced their Value Added Tax (VAT). Six states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Kerala and Jharkhand -- have not reduced the VAT, he said amidst vocal protests by the opposition members.
The government on Monday scrapped 30-month old windfall profit tax on domestically-produced crude oil and on export of jet fuel (ATF), diesel and petrol following a decline in international oil prices. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary tabled a notification in Rajya Sabha scrapping the levy on crude oil produced by firms like state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and exports of fuels done by companies like Reliance Industries Ltd.
State-owned oil companies have announced a hike in petrol prices between 37 and 40 paise in the major cities, while diesel will be costlier by 37 to 44 paise with effect from midnight on Friday.
The prime minister is scheduled to review the financial health of oil PSUs at a meeting with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and petroleum minister Murli Deora on Wednesday evening.
Not satisfied with the Rs 2 per litre cut in petrol prices, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it will launch a 'jail-bharo' agitation on June 22 against the Rs 7.50 a litre petrol price hike, saying the ad-hoc policies of the United Progressive Alliance government had played havoc with the nation's energy security.
The iconic brand is considering petrol powertrains for its entire Indian portfolio, which includes the Jeep Compass, Meridian, Grand Cherokee and Wrangler.
Although the government has started phasing out the subsidy on diesel sale, it continues to supply kerosene and LPG cylinders at subsidised rates.
There are places on earth where petrol is cheaper than water.
An average Indian spends no more than Rs 1.3 lakh per year, according to official statistics. This is close to what an average Indian earns annually. At this level of per capita income today, one litre of petrol costs one-third of an average Indian's daily income (Delhi prices), making it highly unaffordable. People in most other Asian and emerging countries find it more affordable.
Investors shunned shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday as they feared that the government's decision to cut retail prices of petrol and diesel could hurt the companies' profit margins in the near term. On Thursday, the government announced that OMCs will reduce pump prices of petrol and diesel after a record 22 months, making them cheaper by Rs 2 per litre in the national capital. The changes were effective from Friday.
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.
Petrol price may be cut by as much as Rs 4 a litre from
The Congress took out marches and observed bandh at several places on Saturday to protest against rising fuel prices.
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.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Wednesday, taking the total increase in rates in 16 days to Rs 10 per litre.
Petrol prices were on Wednesday hiked by Rs 3.07.
Diesel in Mumbai costs Rs 79.72 per litre at IOC outlets and Rs 79.79 at BPCL outlets.
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.
Cooking gas LPG prices may be hiked next week after under-recovery on the fuel widened to over Rs 100 per cylinder, sources said insisting that the rate hike, including the quantum of increase, is dependent on government permission. If allowed, this will be the fifth increase in cooking gas rates across all categories - households using subsidised gas for cooking and heating purposes, non-subsidised fuel and industrial-sized gas. LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 15 per cylinder on October 6, taking the total increase in rates since July to Rs 90 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
After today's reduction, petrol price has been cut by Rs 12.27 per litre cumulatively since August.
The price of petrol has been hiked by Rs 1.39 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 1.04 a litre, in sync with firming international rates.
Despite raising petrol prices by around Rs 2.95 a litre - the second-biggest increase in this calendar year so far - public and private retailers are losing Rs 50 crore a day on selling the auto fuel.
Petrol gets expensive but diesel is cheaper by Rs 1.35/ per litre.
India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, bought crude oil worth 49 billion euros from Russia in the third year of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a global think tank said. India, which has traditionally sourced its oil from the Middle East, began importing a large volume of oil from Russia soon after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Petrol price will go up by Rs 3.18 per litre, diesel by Rs 3.09.
The price of petrol has risen by 83 paise per litre in the past nine days and diesel by 73 paise
India's electric vehicle (EV) industry hit a new milestone in 2024, with sales surging 26.5 per cent year-on-year to 1.94 million units as of December 29, according to Vahan data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
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