Petrol Price : Allies, opposition target government over petrol price rise

Petrol Price : Allies, opposition target government over petrol price rise

Key allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Friday joined the chorus against the petrol price hike, forcing the government to call off a ministerial meeting that was to consider increasing cooking gas prices.

The ruling Congress party too called for steps to reduce burden on the common man.

Official sources said following pressure from allies, the government Friday deferred a ministerial meeting that was scheduled for the day to consider hike in price of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders and limiting their supply to households in a year.

UPA constituents Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and DMK opposed hike in the price of petrol while the opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left, hit the streets to lodge their protest.

Prices of petrol were raised by oil marketing companies effective Fridaay by Rs.3.14 a litre. Petrol prices have been hiked 10th time since June 2010.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joined the opposition in criticising the petrol price hike.

Banerjee said party general secretary and union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy had called up Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee and conveyed to him the Trinamool’s views.

‘We have apprised the central government of our stand. If petrol and diesel rates are raised regularly, then prices of other essentials also go up. We don’t want this. I am against the hike. My party is against the increase. This is not right,’ Banerjee told mediapersons in Kolkata.

The Trinamool is the second largest partner of the Congress-led UPA government at the centre with 19 MPs.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, who called on Banerjee at the state secretariat in Kolkata, said she would convey the Trinamool chief’s concern over price rise and the long-delayed Teesta river accord to the prime minister.

Soni expressed confidence that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Panab Mukherjee would take ‘adequate steps’ to ensure that the prices of daily needs of the common man are kept in control. Read More

Petrol Price : Parties hit streets demanding roll back of petrol price

Petrol Price : Parties hit streets demanding roll back of petrol price

(PTI) A number of non-UPA parties including the ruling BJD and the opposition BJP staged demonstration here demanding roll back of petrol price.While BJD activists under the banner of Biju Yuva Janata Dal burnt effigies of the Prime Minister Monmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi condemning the price hike of petrol, BJP demanded exemption of VAT on the fuel by the state government.Left Parties comprising CPI and CPI(M) also staged demonstsration here opposing the hike.

"Further rise in the price of petrol will have its impact on the inflation," said CPI(M) leader Suresh Pujari."It is the biggest betrayal by the UPA-II. The combine came to power with slogan of Aam Admi Ka Sarkar. But the common people have suffered a lot under this regime," said Samajwadi Party leader Rabi Behera in a statement.BJD MLA and president of the party's youth wing Sanjay Dasburma pointed out that this was the second hike in petrol price within four months. "The BJD will continue its agaitation against petrol price hike till the Centre announces roll back," Dasburma said. Read More

Petrol Price : Petrol prices: Govt cornered as allies, Opposition seek roll-back

Petrol Price : Petrol prices: Govt cornered as allies, Opposition seek roll-back

The Government got badgered by its allies as well as the Opposition on Friday.

First, it put off the high-powered Ministerial meet on limiting supply of subsidised LPG on Friday after reported objections from its key allies, DMK and Trinamool Congress.

Second, the Opposition slammed it for its ‘failure to control price rise' and raising petrol prices once again.

There were reports of protests in some states after petrol prices were raised by over Rs 3/litre from Friday.

Official sources said the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) meeting was called off “due to non-availability” of certain members. No new dates have been notified. Read More

Petrol Price : ONGC jumps as petrol price hike may reduce subsidy burden

Petrol Price : ONGC jumps as petrol price hike may reduce subsidy burden

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 158.46 points, or 0.94%, to 17,035

On BSE, 8.87 lakh shares were traded in the ONGC counter.

The stock hit a high of Rs. 277.75 and a low of Rs. 269.75 so far during the day.

India's largest state-run oil explorer by market capitalisation has an equity capital of Rs. 4277.74 crore. Face value per share is Rs. 5.

State-run upstream oil firms in India offer discounts on crude sales to public-sector oil retailers as part of a government mechanism to compensate them for selling fuels below cost to keep inflation under control. ONGC shares a lion's share of the subsidy burden of upstream oil firms. State-run oil marketing firms increased petrol prices by Rs. 3.14 to Rs. 3.32 a litre or about 5% with effect from Thursday midnight to pass on the impact of a depreciating rupee which has resulted in a higher import cost. This is the ninth increase since petrol prices were decontrolled in June 2010.

Meanwhile, the government today, 16 September 2011, deferred the about Rs. 11000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) of ONGC. ONGC said in a statement that the government has decided not to proceed with the FPO of ONGC as per the timeline mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus dated 5 September 2011 and it will evaluate its decision in relation to the FPO in due course. The FPO was scheduled to open on 20 September 2011 and close on 23 September 2011 Read More

Petrol Price : Rise in petrol prices will help check inflation in long-term: TCA Anant

Petrol Price : Rise in petrol prices will help check inflation in long-term: TCA Anant

India's Chief Statistician TCA Anant Friday supported the rise in price of petrol saying it would help in checking inflation in long-term.

"Higher petrol price will lead to lower inflationary regime with lower demand. But, it is a long term mechanism," Anant told the the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce.

Though, rising petrol price would lead to higher inflation in the short term, but since overall demand would diminish in the longer run, it would help in addressing inflationary pressure, he said.

He said the government should narrow the gap between wholesale and retail price of food products.

Anant suggested that allowing FDI in retail would in turn will help in increasing competitive pressure in food prices. Read More

Petrol Price : Fuel price hike: Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi speaks in two voices

Petrol Price : Fuel price hike: Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi speaks in two voices

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi is talking in two voices. On the one hand, he has strongly opposed the fuel price hike, demanding its rollback, while on the other, as a railway minister, he has indicated at a hike in railway fares.

The Railway Minister has indicated the rail fares are likely to be hiked following an increase in fuel price.

However, Trivedi said, "I cannot forget the people of rural India also. We have to improve our catering, cleanliness. It means we have to give something in return."

Trivedi's comments came in the wake of his colleague Mukul Roy having called up Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday to register the party's protest over the petrol price hike.

Earlier, Trivedi said the hike in petrol prices would hit the common man hard.

"Trinamool Congress wants roll back of the petrol price hike," Trivedi told reporters, adding his party's opinion was never sought before implementing the decision. Read More

Petrol Price : Watch: Opaque petrol pricing brings deregulation into disrepute

Petrol Price : Watch: Opaque petrol pricing brings deregulation into disrepute

The announcement of the hike on Thursday, coming soon after the release of fresh inflation data (August Wholesle Price Index was up 9.78 percent), will do nothing to tame inflation. On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India tightened the screws further by raising rates 0.25 percent – its 12th hike in this monetary tightening cycle.

The reason given for raising prices – the drop in the rupee-dollar rate, which is making crude imports costlier – appears unconvincing to some as there is no clarity on why and how price hikes are calculated. There is also suspicion that despite deregulation – which means companies set their own prices – the oil companies change prices only with a wink and a nod from the government.

SP Tulsiani, investment analyst, told CNN-IBN, that the weakening of the rupee is a bad reason for raising prices since the government may not allow the reverse if the rupee strengthens. “Even if the rupee strengthens to 45 to a dollar, do you think the government or the oil marketing companies will roll back the prices to the old level?” Read More

Petrol Price : After petrol price rise HPCL, BPCL & IOC pare early gains

Petrol Price : After petrol price rise HPCL, BPCL & IOC pare early gains

Shares of state-run oil marketing companies, which surged nearly 3% in early trade after state-run oil firms raised petrol prices by Rs 3.14 per litre, pared morning gains post the Reserve Bank of India's 25-bps rate hike.

Petrol prices have been hiked due to weakness in the rupee as "Indian Brent hovering near $110 with no respite has made crude costlier by 7 per cent in one month due to weak rupee," said Anand Rathi in a research note.

Petrol prices were hiked for the 10th time since June 2010 from Friday as India's oil retailers sought to pass most of the burden of the falling value of the rupee and high crude prices on to consumers.

The rupee has weakened more than 8 per cent since its highest level (43.8550 against dollar) reached on July 27, 2011. It touched a low of 48.02 on Wednesday, a level last seen on September 29, 2009.

"One of the major reasons for the rupee's weakness is the withdrawal of foreign investment from India's stock market. FIIs were net sellers of Rs 9536.40 crore in the equity segment in the month of August 2011," said Sutapa Roy, Research Analyst at Microsec Capital Ltd.

According to Macquarie Economics Research, the rupee is likely to remain under pressure in the near term, as India runs a high current account deficit of 2.6 per cent of GDP and a high trade deficit of 7.6 per cent of GDP, as of FY11. Capital flows are critical for India, as it funds its current account deficit through these inflows.

At 01:56 p.m., Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp were down 0.3%-3.1 per cent.

The latest petrol price hike effected by the oil marketing companies will marginally add to upward pressures on headline inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Friday in its mid-quarter review of the monetary policy.

Petrol price of Rs 63.70 per litre corresponds to crude oil price of about $103 per barrel. The Brent crude, which is trading around $113 while the US crude is hovering around $90 mark along with depreciation of rupee to 48 rupees per dollar, prompted OMCs to increase prices. Read More

Petrol Price : Government hikes petrol price by Rs 3.14 per litre

Petrol Price : Government hikes petrol price by Rs 3.14 per litre

The government on Thursday allowed public sector oil companies to hike the price of petrol by Rs 3.14 per litre, further burdening the middle- class. The new price will come into effect from midnight Thursday.

Petrol will now cost Rs 66.84 a litre at filling stations in Delhi, and even more in Gurgaon and Noida because of steeper levies in the NCR. Political parties condemned the move. "In the last six years, the UPA government has increased petroleum prices at least 117 times. Our economist Prime Minister has completely failed and his management of the economy is restricted to pleasing the rich," BJP leader Muqtar Abbas Naqvi said.

"The government has increased the burden of common citizens, particularly the middle class. The UPA is not able to combat either corruption or inflation. Gas prices are also likely to be increased. We condemn this move," SP spokesperson Mohan Singh said.

CPM leader Brinda Karat said the party will hold nationwide protests, arguing that the hike had been effected when global oil prices are down.

The latest revision is the third in 2011 and makes the fuel costlier by a whopping 20 per cent since the first price revision on January 15 this year.

Petrol prices have gone up by Rs 11 since the beginning of this year. The price of the fuel was last increased by a hefty Rs 5 per litre on May 15. The increase since June last year, when the government first announced its new policy of market- determined prices for petrol, works out to a huge 34 per cent.

The latest hike will fuel inflation further as commuting costs go up and add to the crushing burden on household budgets already stretched by soaring prices of essential food items.

However, the petroleum ministry said there was no way out as public sector oil companies were making huge losses because of skyrocketing crude prices in the international market, hovering at around $ 110 a barrel. Oil companies say the current depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar has also pushed up crude import costs.

An Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) official said oil companies were losing Rs 2.61 per litre on petrol sales. After adding sales tax or VAT, a Rs 3.14 per litre hike would bring domestic prices in line with international prices of the fuel.

Besides petrol, the firms are losing Rs 263 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene at below market prices. Diesel is being sold with a subsidy of Rs 6.05 a litre, kerosene at Rs 23.25 per litre while domestic LPG is underpriced by Rs 267 per 14.2- kg cylinder. Read More

Petrol Price : Petrol price hike was decision of oil marketing firms: Pranab

Petrol Price : Petrol price hike was decision of oil marketing firms: Pranab

Amid resentment over sharp hike in petrol prices, the Government today distanced itself from the decision saying the call was taken by oil marketing firms.

"So far petrol price is concerned, petrol has been deregulated. It is oil marketing companies' review," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said when asked about Rs 3.14 per litre hike.

He was talking to the reporters after launching 'Land of Two Rivers', a book written by Nitish Sengupta here.

Yesterday the state-owned oil companies hiked petrol prices stating that depreciation of Rupee increased the cost of crude oil import. This is the second major hike in four months. In May, petrol price was increased by Rs 5 per litre.

While the UPA ally Trinamool Congress has already demanded a rollback in the hike, CPI(M) termed it as "callous" and demanded restoration of the administrative regulation of petrol pricing.

The CPI(M) said that the petrol price hike comes at a time when inflation is touching double digits and this would only have a cascading effect on price rise. Read More

Petrol Price : Fuel price hike: UPA under pressure from allies

Petrol Price : Fuel price hike: UPA under pressure from allies

The UPA is under pressure from key allies DMK and the Trinamool Congress who have been demanding a roll back of the petrol price hike. The government was on Friday forced to defer a meeting to decide on limiting the supply of subsidised LPG cylinders.

An unnerved government faced anger both from outside and within with the DMK and the Trinamool Congress accusing the government of not keeping them in the know on the EGoM proposal to hike LPG prices. The Pranab Mukherjee led EGoM was shelved.

The EGoM was supposed to discuss a proposal to limit subsidy on LPG cylinders to 4 to 6 cylinders per household and any cylinder over and above this would have to be purchased at market rate ranging from Rs 666 to Rs 750.

The government was hoping that with about only 20 per cent of population using more than 4 cylinders and rural India not too hooked to it, it wouldn't be a politically hard decision. But the timing was wrong, coming just a day after a over Rs 3 hike in petrol prices. Allies and Opposition demanded a rollback. Read More

Petrol Price : Nationwide protests against fuel price hike; BJP, allies demand rollback

Petrol Price : Nationwide protests against fuel price hike; BJP, allies demand rollback

The Rs. 3 hike in petrol that kicked in at midnight provoked political and public outrage today. An immediate consequence was that the government deferred indefinitely a meeting of ministers that was to consider making cooking gas more expensive for the average household.

The BJP threatened to organise protests in Delhi today. In Lucknow, members of the Samajwadi Party were lathi-charged as they tried to burn an effigy of the Prime Minister.

But for the government, the biggest concern was the anger expressed openly by its main allies, the DMK and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC). So it called off an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) meeting this morning that was to debate whether households should be entitled to between 4-6 subsidised LPG cylinders every year, and pay market rates for refills after that. Subsidised cooking gas cylinders currently cost Rs. 395.35 each; if the new proposal is passed, households would pay over Rs. 650 per cylinder after exhausting their quota.

If the meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had been held today, the DMK was planning to boycott it; the Trinamool Congress said it would've used the occasion to convey anger - both were unequivocal that a rise in LPG prices was not acceptable.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/nationwide-protests-against-fuel-price-hike-bjp-allies-demand-rollback-134070

Petrol Price : Govt shares people's concern over price rise, says Pranab

Petrol Price : Govt shares people's concern over price rise, says Pranab

A day after petrol price hike sent the political temperature soaring in Delhi, with rising prices keeping the common man's anger boiling, the government maintained the "Indian people have the capacity to overcome the problem". The government said since the oil prices were "decontrolled", there was little it could do about the oil hike.

"I share people's concern over rising prices. I share their concern over low growth. But even as the situation is tough, it doesn't mean, we will cave in," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Headlines Today in an exclusive interview on Friday.

Mukhejee, who believed the Indian people have the "resilience" to tide over the the crisis, assured that government would take necessary steps to bring down prices.

"There was a time when the country had to mortgage its gold for a few million dollars. If the country can come out from that kind of desperate situation, we can certainly overcome this situation too, when India is the most vibrant economy," Mukherjee told Executive Editor Rahul Kanwal. Read More

Trinamool demands roll back of petrol price hike | Petrol price hike, Trinamool Congress demand, UPA, LPG subsidy

Trinamool demands roll back of petrol price hike | Petrol price hike, Trinamool Congress demand, UPA, LPG subsidy

The Trinamool Congress, a key constituent of the United Progressive Alliance government, on Friday demanded a roll back of the hike in petrol prices as it would hit the common man hard.

“Trinamool Congress wants roll back of the petrol price hike,” senior Trinamool Congress leader and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi told reporters in New Delhi, adding his party’s opinion was never sought before implementing the decision.

Stating that the hike would put an additional burden on the common man, Mr. Trivedi strongly opposed the possible hike in LPG prices.

“It is not a luxury but an essential for common man and should not be raised further,” he told reporters.

He said the hike was not “acceptable” to the common man and he would have “definitely” stated this at the EGoM on LPG which has been postponed Read More

Petrol Price: India feels the price pain; government feels the heat

Petrol Price: India feels the price pain; government feels the heat

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday after its mid-quarter review of the monetary policy that the petrol price hike effected by the oil marketing companies will marginally add to upward pressures on headline inflation.

"Oil marketing companies raised the price of petrol by Rs 3.14 per litre with effect from Sep 16, 2011. This will have a direct impact of 7 basis points to WPI inflation, in addition to indirect impact with a lag," the RBI said while hiking repo rate by 25 basis points.

The repurchase rate (repo), or the interest the central bank levies on short-term borrowing by commercial banks, has been raised to 8.25% from 8%.

Automatically, the reverse repurchase rate, or interest on short-term lending, gets hiked to 7.25% from 7%, since the central bank felt inflation levels remain well above its comfort zone.

Headline inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) nudged double digit levels at 9.8% in August, rising from 9.2% in the previous month. Read More

Petrol Price In Delhi, Petrol Price In Bangalore, Petrol Price In India, Petrol Price In Pakistan, Harshad Mehta

Petrol Price In Delhi, Petrol Price In Bangalore, Petrol Price In India, Petrol Price In Pakistan, Harshad Mehta

Planning Commission on Friday said the decision of oil marketing companies to raise petrol price by Rs. 3.14 per litre is a good news and will provide credibility to the economic reforms process.

"What has happened (fuel price hike)... on that front it is a good news. I regard that as a vindication...(and) an increase in credibility of basic part of the reforms strategy," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

State-owned oil companies, including Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, yesterday hiked petrol price citing impact of depreciating value of rupee against dollar on import of crude oil.

After the hike, petrol price increased to Rs. 66.84 per litre in Delhi. This is the second hike in four months. Oil companies had last increased petrol price by Rs. 5 per litre on May 15 this year.

On impact of fuel price hike on the automobile sector, Ahluwalia said, "I don't believe that fuel price hike is hurting investment sentiments... We are standing by the signal given by the government that fuel price (in India) will be aligned with global rates."

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/petrol-price-hike-is-good-news-montek-178277