India on Monday sought fuel from Qatar to restart the $2.9-billion Dabhol power project in Maharashtra.
Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailing firm, has demanded a hike in security deposit on cooking gas LPG cylinders to Rs 900 in view of the spurt in steel prices.
The government is yet to make up its mind on increasing auto fuel prices and more consultations are likely before a decision is taken on the issue in step with the surge in international crude oil prices.
Public sector oil firms plan to set up over 4600 petrol stations and 907 LPG sale agencies in the current fiscal, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.
The government will look into the issue of revising the petrol and diesel prices in view of the steep increase in international crude oil prices, the new Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Monday.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Pakistan in May to boost bilateral energy ties and discuss the $4.16 billion Iran-India gas pipeline project.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, the latest entrant in auto fuel retailing, plans to set up 15 petrol stations in Karnataka and Gujarat in the current year.
The government may not revise petrol and diesel prices on April 1 as Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has piloted a note on the issue for discussion in the Cabinet, will be out of the country at the next due date for revision in fuel prices
The government has allowed ONGC Videsh, the foreign arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, to make investments of up to Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in oil and gas properties abroad without going to the Cabinet for approval.
India on Wednesday threatened to pull out of the proposed $4.16 billion Iran-India pipeline project over price of natural gas saying Tehran has to price the fuel at rates affordable to industry in India.
The government is likely to give public sector oil firms limited autonomy to fix petrol and diesel prices within a narrow price band once international markets stablise, Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Monday.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday hoped that international crude oil prices will ease in the near future and said India was in a comfortable position to sustain prices at around $50 a barrel.
International crude oil prices may have eased but the government has no immediate plans to pass on the benefit to the consumers, as it wants to wait for the prices to stabilise further.
The government on Tuesday put 20 oil and gas exploration blocks for bidding under the fifth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Tehran early next week to salvage the LNG-for-oil field deal, which hit an obstacle after Iran sought a very high price for liquefied natural gas it plans to sell to India.
Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will visit Dhaka and Yangon in January to explore the possibility of laying a natural gas pipeline from Myanmar to India via Bangladesh.
A Bill to put in place a regulator for the oil sector will be placed before the Cabinet for approval this month and presented to Parliament during the winter session, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs will meet this evening to decide on the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene, petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
Public sector oil companies have demanded a Rs 1.60 per litre increase in diesel price and Rs 0.65 per litre hike in petrol prices in step with the surge in international oil prices.
The government may cut customs duty on petrol and diesel by 5 per cent each to avoid increasing prices that had been necessitated due to a spurt in international oil prices.
The government on Tuesday ruled out any rollback of last month's increase in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG, and said a policy for pricing of major petroleum products was under review.
A hike in the prices of petrol and diesel is unlikely before June 15 as the Congress-led government does not want a showdown with its allies in the first session of Parliament beginning June 2.
More than half of the retail selling price of petrol and one-third of the selling price of diesel is made up of central and state duties, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday.
Expressing concern over the situation in Afghanistan, a group of eminent persons, including former ministers K Natwar Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, on Wednesday urged the government to continue engaging with the Taliban and not allow any political party to use the developments in that country to communally polarise Indian society for electoral gains.
The Congress will contest 42 seats and the INPT 18 seats reserved for STs. They will jointly campaign for their candidates.
Petrol will cost less than Rs 18 a litre but for the duties levied by central and state governments, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday.
India's net oil import bill has jumped 32 per cent to Rs 91,486 crore (Rs 914.86 billion) in the first 11 months of 2004-05 fiscal on back of high crude oil prices.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Petrol will cost Rs 17.46 per litre and diesel Rs 18.07 in Delhi if all duties and taxes on the two fuels are removed, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Tuesday.
Sachin has an attendance of 5.5 per cent to date, whereas Rekha has a meagre attendance rate of 5.1 per cent.
Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah and other ministers will listen to PM's radio talk 'Mann ki Baat' while having tea with people across poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday.
Not only do Modi and Trump's personalities overshadow the high offices they hold, the way they attack people and speak are very similar, observes Karan Thapar.
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar also said that an alliance similar to the one stitched up in Bihar is needed at the national level for the next Lok Sabha elections.
'(Upper caste) leaders talk against the Constitution, reservations and the nation and still get away.'
"India should stop dragging Pakistan into its electoral debate and win victories on own strength rather than fabricated conspiracies, which are utterly baseless and irresponsible," Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter.
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