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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
State-run oil companies on Monday increased prices of diesel and petrol by Re 1 per litre each.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik hinted on Wednesday that prices of petrol and diesel may be cut further at the fortnightly review on Thursday, in tune with the global softening of crude prices.\n\n\n\n
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday remained non-committal on rolling back the hike in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices saying the demands for revisiting the decision could only be considered after the Prime Minister returns from The
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 three companies in separate presentations to the Kirit Parikh Committee on fuel pricing suggested immediate freeing of petrol and diesel prices from government control.
promises a mileage of 24.2 kmpl.
The Union government will gain close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore in additional revenues this fiscal from a record hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel that has pushed the total incidence of taxation on auto fuels to 70 per cent of the price. Late on Tuesday evening, the government hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 13 a litre to mop up gains arising from international oil prices falling to a two-decade low.
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.
The government ruled out any major jump in petrol and diesel prices after the elections, but said a review to bring the domestic prices in line with the raw material cost will be done by the new government.
Clean air needs action all year round; and that it will work only if we act jointly and at scale, asserts Sunita Narain.
Under-recovery or the difference between retail price and its imported cost on diesel was 8 paisa per litre in the first half of September.
Jet fuel (ATF) price was on Monday hiked by a steep 56.5 per cent and that of non-subsidised cooking gas LPG by Rs 11.5 per cylinder on the back of firming up of international oil rates, but petrol and diesel prices continued to remain on freeze for a record 78th day. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was hiked by Rs 12,126.75 per kilolitre (kl), or 56.5 per cent, to Rs 33,575.37 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification by State-owned oil marketing companies.
Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday hiked in seven states like West Bengal and Maharastra and that of domestic LPG in six states as state-owned oil firms recalibrated rates to reflect changes in local levies.
Petrol and diesel prices may be hiked by up to Re 1 per litre each on August 15, the next due date for fuel price revision, in step with the surge in global oil prices.
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.
According to police, CPI-M legislator K Bhimrao and other party supporters were arrested from Guindy railway station in Chennai.
Decrying the hike in diesel prices as "unjustified" action, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday demanded its roll back and withdrawal of powers granted to oil companies to regulate fuel prices.
The fall in international oil prices has resulted in handsome margins for state-owned firms on petrol and diesel sales, but not all of it would be reflected in the cut in the retail selling price, as Finance Ministry wants to take away some of the gain by raising excise duty.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
The government on Tuesday said it has agreed in-principle to deregulate diesel prices, but is not considering similar proposal for the cooking gas.
An increase in petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene prices looks "imminent" after the Finance Ministry said it has no money to provide for fuel subsidy.
State-owned fuel retailers are losing close to Rs 3 per litre on selling diesel while the profit on petrol has trimmed due to recent firming up in international oil prices, industry officials said detailing reasons for continuing to hold retail prices. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), who control roughly 90 per cent of India's fuel market, 'voluntarily' have not changed petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) prices for almost two years now, resulting in losses when input cost was higher and profits when raw material prices were lower.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp wants diesel prices to be freed from government control before its twin follow-on public offersto raise maximum funds, company Chairman B M Bansal said on Monday.
Amid record-high fuel prices, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said there is no proposal as of now to bring crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel (ATF) and natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST). When the GST was introduced on July 1, 2017, amalgamating over a dozen central and state levies, five commodities - crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) - were kept out of its purview given the revenue dependence of the central and state governments on this sector. This meant that the central government continued to levy excise duty on them while state governments charged VAT. These taxes, with excise duty, in particular, have been raised periodically.
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%.
'We will have multiple engine options -- electric vehicle and internal combustion engine in diesel and petrol.'
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