New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is considering raising the excise duty on diesel cars. The suggestion was mooted long back by the Oil Ministry. This came after the inter ministerial group on inflation and diesel pricing options met on Monday. However, Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy has categorically said that the government was not considering a hike in diesel, LPG and kerosene prices right now. Government sources said that the Empowered...
01:11 PM, May 28, 2012
Bhopal: Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries, Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said the BJP, which was strongly criticising recent hike in petrol prices, should not forget that the prices had gone up 35 times during the six years of NDA rule. When the BJP-led NDA was in power, a barrel of oil in the international markets used to cost only $ 12, Scindia said. The cost of an...
12:09 PM, May 26, 2012
New Delhi: The UPA government may face more flak over the next few days. Sources have told CNN-IBN that after petrol a diesel price hike is on the cards as well. In fact the government may hike prices as early as June. Sources have also said that the timing will depend on the political scenario, the way the rupee moves as well as on the market conditions. CNN-IBN has also...
07:33 AM, May 26, 2012
Government owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) raised the price of petrol by Rs 6.28 per litre on May 23, 2012. After the inclusion of local taxes, this price hike amounts to an increase of Rs 7.54 per litre in Delhi. India met 76 per cent of its total petroleum requirement in 2011-12 through imports. Petrol prices have officially been decontrolled since June 2010. However, it has been argued by experts...
07:47 PM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: Strange but true, the subsidy on kerosene, LPG and diesel is twice the total budget of the ministries of rural development, drinking water and sanitation and, more than the budget of the Defence Ministry, Minister for Rural Development and Drinking Water Jairam Ramesh said on Friday. In his own words: "The total subsidy on diesel, kerosene and LPG comes to Rs 1,90,000 crore. Whereas, the total budget for...
07:17 PM, May 25, 2012
Bhubaneswar: Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday called for a statewide shutdown May 31 to protest the hike in petrol prices by oil marketing companies. At an emergency meeting, the office bearers of the party here decided to organise demonstrations and protests across the state on their own, even though the Left parties and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also have called a nation-wide shutdown the same...
05:33 PM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after returning from Turkmentistan. However, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) insisted that the meeting was not scheduled to discuss the petrol price hike. Reddy has also been summoned by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and he will meet her later on Friday to explain why the petrol price hike was necessary. Congress sources claimed that Sonia was unaware of the...
01:29 PM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy is likely to meet UPA chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday. Reddy was not in the country when the petrol hike announcement was made on Wednesday. The meeting comes against the backdrop of Congress President's concern over the Rs 7.54 a litre increase and the party hinting at the possibility of at least a partial rollback of the decision. Reddy who came back from his...
09:53 AM, May 25, 2012
HYDERABAD: A day after oil companies announced the steepest ever hike in petrol price, auto-rickshaw drivers in the city seemed to have taken an oath to pass on the burden to the people, disregarding the mandatory meter chargers, and further fuelling public fury. At several places, people were seen arguing with the auto-drivers for overcharging them in the name of the petrol price hike. I travel the same distance to...
08:40 AM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: Two days after the government announced the steepest petrol price hike ever, it may go for a partial roll back. However, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Thursday indicated that it may take a few days. Reddy cut short his Turkeministan visit and met Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel to discuss the issue. AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said the party was hopeful that some kind of a...
08:23 AM, May 25, 2012
Jammu: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday indicated that Delhi government may consider cutting taxes on petrol to provide some relief from the hike in fuel price. "We will see what we can do," Dikshit told reporters when asked whether her government will reduce VAT on petrol. Dikshit, however, justified the steep hike saying oil companies were incurring huge losses and the hike was necessary. She is on a private...
01:30 AM, May 25, 2012
Catch the day's top stories on India at 9 with Rajdeep Sardesai. ...
11:19 PM, May 24, 2012
How guilty is the government of mishandling the situation on petrol prices? ...
09:23 PM, May 24, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: A day after the petrol price hike, the Kerala government at a special cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to forgo the sales tax on petrol, reducing its price by Rs 1.63 per litre. "This will cost the exchequer Rs 218 crore," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters here. "I have also written to the prime minister, UPA chairperson and petroleum minister, saying that the hike will affect the people...
06:28 PM, May 24, 2012
Locate your car in the interactive list below and check the corresponding distance column to get a quick estimate of how much extra load will the recent Rs 7.50 hike on petrol prices add to your monthly fuel bill. ...
02:58 PM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: A partial rollback in the petrol price hike is on the cards with the Central Government realising that the steep increase of over Rs 7.50 per litre could have a very heavy political cost. Sources say that while the Congress wants the rollback to be in the range of Rs 3-5, the government is likely to go ahead with a cut of around Rs 2-2.50 per litre. The...
02:56 PM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: After public anger over the sharp 10 per cent petrol price hike, the government is trying to soften the blow. Under pressure from its allies, the Opposition and the public over the steep hike in petrol price, the Congress has asked all its chief ministers to cut state taxes on petrol. For every one rupee paid for petrol almost 40 paisa is state taxes. Uttarakhand and Kerala have...
02:21 PM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: Congress has conveyed to the government that a hike in diesel prices was not advisable at the moment, according to sources. Congress also said that even though a hike in petrol prices was required, the timing was wrong. "Petrol price hike should not have taken place a day after the UPA-II report card was presented and Parliament session ended," Congress sources said. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM)...
02:17 PM, May 24, 2012
Mumbai: Calling for a united opposition to demand roll back in petrol price hike, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Thursday asked people to stand together against the government's move. "Shiv Sena and NDA will start a nationwide movement against this hike. Even a call for Bharat Bandh on the issue will be acceptable," Thackeray said in his party mouthpiece 'Saamana' in Mumbai on on Thursday. Despite the UPA government...
12:51 PM, May 24, 2012
Mumbai: State-run oil companies rallied after the government allowed them to raise the prices of petrol, though the action was more mixed for auto stocks. BPCL gained 3 per cent, HPCL added 2.3 per cent, while IOC advanced 2.7 per cent. The impact on auto stocks was more mixed given the proportion of petrol and diesel vehicle sales are different per company. Maruti Suzuki shares fell 2.6 per cent, while...
12:44 PM, May 24, 2012
