The wholesale price-based inflation accelerated to a record high of 12.94 per cent in May, on rising prices of crude oil and manufactured goods. Low base effect also contributed to the spike in WPI inflation in May 2021. In May 2020, WPI inflation was at (-) 3.37 per cent. This is the fifth straight month of uptick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation. In April, 2021, WPI inflation hit double digit at 10.49 per cent. "The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, was 12.94 per cent for the month of May, 2021 (over May, 2020) as compared to (-) 3.37 per cent in May 2020.
In May, Satpal Singh, who runs a dairy business with three buffaloes in Jewar, near Noida, was worried about the steep spike in input costs. Singh said dry fodder rates, which cost Rs 1,500-2000 per tractor trolley last year, were quoting at Rs 4,500-5,000. The price of other cattle feed ingredients (that include mustard meal and similar mixes) had also gone up from Rs 2,000 per quintal to Rs 3,100-3,200 per quintal.
Retail inflation eased to 4.06 per cent in January, mainly on account of a decline in vegetable prices, as per government data released on Friday. The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.59 per cent in December 2020.
The Oil ministry is set to raise the diesel prices by Rs 10 per litre over the next ten months. Planning Re 1 increase per litre per month for the coming 10 months. This means the wide-gap between diesel and petrol will reduce. Should a car buyer still buy diesel cars or opt for other options?
The JD-U also accused the ruling BJP of having "authoritarian" tendencies and destabilising non-BJP governments in several states, including Delhi and Jharkhand besides Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra earlier.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Saturday, the fourth increase in five days as oil firms passed on to consumers the spike in cost of raw material. Petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 98.61 per litre as against Rs 97.81 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 89.07 per litre to Rs 89.87, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. All the four increases since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22, have been of 80 paise a litre.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
The opposition party vowed to hit the streets against the "Modi-made inflation" and run a people's movement over price rise.
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that the "momentum of inflation is on a downward slope" and the central bank would continue to strike a delicate balance between the need to contain price rise and ensure economic growth. The Reserve Bank's inflation projections, Das said, are "robust" but contingent on downside and upside risks associated with the movement of global crude oil prices. The RBI takes into account a particular range within which crude prices are expected to fluctuate considering all the factors that can be anticipated and that can be sort of foreseen as of today, he said.
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday said India is not defending the rupee and the Reserve Bank of India is taking necessary steps to ensure that the movement of the rupee is gradual and in line with market trends. Nageswaran further said that the rupee is being managed in a manner that reflects the fundamentals of the economy. "India is not defending the rupee... I don't think Indian fundamentals are such that we need to defend the rupee. "The rupee can take care of itself," he said at an event in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of states may soon have an in-person interaction on a common platform for the first time since 2019. The seventh meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog is likely to be held in late June or early July, Business Standard has learnt from sources in the Centre and a state. While the date and other details are yet to be finalised, it is learnt that there will be a conclave of chief secretaries of states and Union Territories in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, on June 14 and 15, which will decide the agenda of the Council meeting to be held at a later date.
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Declining prices of food items like vegetables pulled down retail inflation to 5.59 per cent in July, bringing it back within the RBI's comfort zone after two months, official data showed on Thursday. The retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had remained above 6 per cent during May and June. The government has mandated the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The CPI based inflation stood at 6.26 per cent in June 2021 and 6.73 per cent in July 2020.
Before pedalling down the streets of the state capital, Yadav told mediapersons at the party headquarters that the BJP government has "failed" in Covid management.
International oil prices have hit a six-month low, helping Indian fuel retailers breakeven on petrol but they continue to lose money on diesel - the most used fuel in the country, officials said. The world's best-known crude benchmark, Brent was trading at $94.91 per barrel on Thursday after concerns of a global recession led to it slipping to a six-month low of $91.51 on the previous day. The current rates are a relief to India, which is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs.
Members of the four Left parties and the Samajwadi Party on Friday walked out of the Lok Sabha to protest the government's 'lack of response' to their demand for a white paper on the rise in prices of essential commodities, especially food articles.Raising the issue, Communist Party of India - Marxist's Basudeb Acharia sought a white paper on the price situation, saying the government had 'failed' to take any steps to curb the rising trend of prices.
'Has any prime minister spent so much time in one state holding election rally after rally?'
The area under paddy - the biggest foodgrain during the kharif season - was almost 13 per cent lower in the week ended August 5 as compared to the same period last year despite a slight pick-up in rains in the main growing regions, triggering fears of a 10-12 million-tonne drop in final output. Sources said with the peak sowing season for paddy almost coming to an end in the big-growing states, any uptick in coverage from here onwards may not give the desired yields. With 30 per cent of normal average area in which paddy is grown every year remaining unsown till early August, there is a limited chance of a big uptick in output, trade and market sources said.
'According to the survey, ideological issues like Article 370 and Ayodhya received only 14 and 12 per cent voter-backing, respectively.' 'It could well imply that hardline Hindutva issues have only that much voter-purchase, compared to Modi's overall popularity of 52 per cent -- putting the man way above the mission,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Banerjee has already allowed one in power rates, besides making milk dearer.
The BJP on Wednesday rejected as 'unfounded' the opposition's demand for the resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' and all but ruled out a discussion on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue as the matter is sub-judice.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said inflation management cannot be "singularly" left to the monetary policy as a majority of activities are outside its purview in the current context. Speaking at a seminar organised by economic think-tank Icrier, the finance minister said that both the fiscal policy and the monetary policy have to work together to contain inflation. Consumer price index (CPI) based inflation or retail inflation is ruling above the Reserve Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent since January.
The leaders attacked the BJP, accusing it of trying to create "Hindu-Muslim disturbances" to benefit politically and making false claims and promises.
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 1.4 per cent in November as most components like manufacturing, electricity, mining, primary goods, and consumer durables witnessed a slowdown, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday. This is on the base of a decline of 1.7 per cent in November 2020 and before the new Covid variant started impacting economic activity. IIP growth was lower than the 4 per cent expansion recorded in the previous month but was better than a 1.6 per cent contraction seen in November 2020. Separately, rising prices of kitchen staples pushed retail inflation, or rate of price increase, to 5.59 per cent in December 2021, bringing it close to the upper band of Reserve Bank's comfort zone.
Before the launch of the 'Bharat jodo yatra, former Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Wednesday take part in a prayer meeting at former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's memorial in Sriperumbudur.
Domestic passenger vehicle retail sales declined eight per cent in February as the companies continued to suffer production loss due to chip shortage, automobile dealers' body FADA said on Friday. The passenger vehicle (PV) sales dropped to 2,38,096 units last month, down 7.84 per cent from 2,58,337 units in February 2021. "Even though the passenger vehicle (PV) segment saw some launches and slight respite in supply due to better production, it was not enough to meet customer demand. "Vehicle waiting period thus remains similar to what it was in the past few months," FADA president Vinkesh Gulati stated.
'Through this one step, and more steps that follow, log judte jayenge (more people will come together); I'm sure of that.'
"We condemn this and resolve to continue and intensify our collective fight against the anti-people, anti-farmer, anti-Constitution policies of the Modi 'sarkar' that is destroying the social fabric of our society," they also said in the statement.
Kharge launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced but not of Gujarat so that the PM can inaugurate many more bridges like the one that collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi.
At over 6 per cent, most states in October had inflation rates above the Reserve Bank of India's target band of 2-6 per cent.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
Ahead of the launch of its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Wednesday, the Congress said it is a turning point in Indian politics and marks a 'new beginning'.
The retail inflation rate breached the 6 per cent upper tolerance limit of the RBI for the first time in seven months in January, while the wholesale price index stayed in double-digits for the 10th month in a row, showed two sets of data released by the government on Monday. Retail inflation, the key input for the RBI while reviewing the repo rate every two months, soared during the month mainly because of a spike in certain food items. The previous high for retail inflation was 6.26 per cent in June 2021.
The Karnataka Congress is a "united house" and it will fight the assembly polls next year on its own under a "collective leadership", party's state unit chief DK Shivakumar said on Thursday.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliament Affairs has recommended that the winter session of the Parliament be held from November 29 to December 23, sources said on Monday.
After the Gujarat and Himachal elections and the municipal polls in Mumbai and Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh will elect new assemblies next year leading up to the Lok Sabha election in April-May 2024, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Even when the Congress is facing the toughest challenge in its long history, it shows no sign of turning a new leaf and injecting internal democracy to revive its fortunes, argues Virendra Kapoor.
The GST collection in April touched the highest ever level of about Rs 1.68 lakh crore, up 20 per cent from the year-ago period, on improved compliance and recovery in business activity, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday. During the month, 1.06 crore GST returns from GSTR-3B were filed, of which 97 lakh pertained to March 2022. The gross GST revenue collected in April is Rs 1,67,540 crore, of which CGST is Rs 33,159 crore, SGST Rs 41,793 crore, IGST Rs 81,939 crore (including Rs 36,705 crore collected on import of goods) and cess Rs 10,649 crore (including Rs 857 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Thursday poised for a landslide victory in Gujarat to retain power for a record seventh straight term but was behind the Congress in Himachal Pradesh which could go with the trend of alternative governments in the hill state.
Amid the row over a new set of unparliamentary words, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Sunday said he would treat the list as indicative rather than definitive, and 'speak normally' in the House and see whether it is applied in a 'draconian manner' to stifle meaningful criticism.
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