News Analysis India

Tag: Petrol prices

  • Huge rush for refilling vehicles in Kashmir amid rumours of fuel shortage

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: Massive queues of vehicles could be seen at fuel stations in Kashmir on Thursday as people scrambled to fill up the tanks in the wake of rumours that the country is facing shortage of fuel, officials said.

    Hundreds of vehicles were lined up at almost every fuel station, waiting for their turn to be refilled, leading to traffic jams in some parts of the city and elsewhere in the valley as well, the officials said.

    Police and traffic police officials were seen regulating the movement of vehicles at some fuel stations where some motorists turned unruly while waiting for their turn. A police official said there were some minor altercations and the issues were resolved amicably.

    The rush for refilling the cars and vehicles began after rumours started circulating on social media that the country is facing a shortage of fuel.

    A senior marketing official at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited took to Twitter to allay the fears the of people but to no avail.

    “Dear esteemed customers, we reiterate that there is sufficient product availability and supplies to retail outlets are being met in line with demand. Request not to panic at all. We reassure our full commitment to serve you at all times without interruption,” Director Marketing of the IOCL tweeted.

  • UP govt reduces VAT on fuel to further bring down diesel, petrol prices in state

    By Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The UP government has reduced the state VAT imposed on diesel and petrol by Rs 1.03 and 1.40 per litre respectively, after the Centre slashed the excise duty on the fuel three days ago.

    This will bring down the effective prices by Rs 8 on diesel and approximately Rs 10  on petrol. UP CM Yogi Adityanath shared the information on the floor of the Assembly while responding to a query on Wednesday.

    The UP CM’s submission came when SP MLA Virendra Yadav sought to know if the state government would take any step to reduce the state tax on fuels to bring down their prices in the wake of the rising inflation.

    Yogi said that the base price of petrol and diesel automatically got reduced on May 22 when the Centre reduced the excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre respectively. The CM added that the LPG was covered under GST for which any approval to reduce tax would have to be granted by the GST council.

  • Delhi Congress holds protest against central govt over rising fuel prices

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of the Congress on Sunday staged a protest in east Delhi’s Trilokpuri area against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government for constant rise in fuel and gas prices.

    The protest, part of the opposition party’s “Mahangai Mukt Bharat” campaign, was led by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Chaudhary Anil Kumar.

    The protesters raised slogans against the central government, holding it responsible for “sharp” increase in the prices of oil and natural gas.

    Kumar said the Centre has increased prices of petrol, diesel, CNG, PNG and even the domestic gas cylinder just after the polls in five states were over.

    “Spike in fuel prices has also led to inflation among other daily commodities. The government should reduce fuel prices to give breather to people,” he said.

    In the protest, agitators mocked the central government by garlanding cylinders and motorcycles.

    Congress supporters, who participated in the protest, said it was becoming tough for common people to survive amid “such inflation”.

    “Constant increase in fuel and natural gas prices broke the backbone of the public. Rates of petrol, diesel are being raised everyday having a cascading effect on other commodities as well, which is making daily consumables costlier,” a Congress protester said.

  • Congress leaders stage protest against rising fuel prices

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi on Thursday staged a protest against the fuel price hike at Vijay Chowk here and sought its roll back.

    Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha carrying placards raised slogans against the government and sat on a dharna against the rise in price of petrol, diesel and LPG gas.

    Among those present included Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

    In the last 10 days, petrol and diesel price have been increased 9 times. We demand that the rising prices should be brought under control. Congress party is holding nationwide protests on this issue today: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi pic.twitter.com/8AB8NusLC4
    — ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2022
    The Congress is also launching a week-long countrywide protest against inflation and rise in fuel prices.

    Petrol and diesel prices were on Thursday hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last 10 days to Rs 6.40 per litre.

    Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.

    This is the ninth increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.

  • Opposition members walk out of Lok Sabha proceedings over fuel price hike

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Opposition members from various parties in Lok Sabha on Friday walked out of proceedings over rising fuel prices, with a Congress MP questioning the need to hike price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas following a 137 days hiatus after polls in five states concluded.

    Gaurav Gogoi (Cong) raised the issue of rise in fuel prices during Zero Hour, saying after inflation and uneven recovery after the coronavirus pandemic, people needed a breathing space. He wondered why prices of petrol and diesel were increased three times in a week after a hiatus of 137 days.

    He claimed that tensions between Russia and Ukraine were simmering since December last year, but blaming the conflict now, the prices were hiked. “We don’t know how many more hikes await the people of India and people of India have just returned from Omicron. They want an environment where they can do their business but all these price hikes have increased the cost of business, especially the price of transportation and this will lead to inflation,” he said.

    He, as well as members from various opposition parties, sought a reply from the government as to why for 137 days they managed to keep the prices stable. They said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was present in the House, should respond.

    Members, including those from Congress, DMK, NCP, Left, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and IUML, walked out of the House to register their protest on the issue.

  • Onus on both Centre, states to control fuel prices: Nirmala Sitharaman

    By Express News Service
    BENGALURU: Both the Union and State governments have to work on controlling the rising fuel prices, as they have separate levies included in the final price. The reason for the spike is also because of the high international crude prices, which are hovering around $75-76 per barrel, reasoned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Friday.

    On bringing fuel prices under the GST regime, she said there are no hurdles from the Centre, but the GST Council has to take a decision.  On problems with the new IncomeTax e-filing portal, which was developed by Infosys, she said the company is working on fixing the issues raised by different groups.  On the LPG price hike, she said during the pandemic, the poor had been given up to three cylinders free.

    Speaking to investors of Raghavendra Cooperative Bank, who had gathered outside her office at 3.30 pm she said, “Processes will have to be followed. I can only talk to the RBI and inform them about the problem here. A report will be submitted to the RBI. I know that senior citizens have been affected.’’  

    Interaction of different fields needed: FM

    Over 20,000 people have been left in the lurch for over a year after the RBI restricted the bank from carrying out transactions.When a reporter said that as a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, there were lots of expectations from her, but people are now a little disappointed, she shot back saying, “Is it people’s opinion or your opinion. I’m sorry that I’m not able to rise up to ‘your’ expectation. I will try.”Nirmala, while interacting with biotech and startup leaders, assured Karnataka of full cooperation, and said an interface of science, business and entrepreneurship is the need of the hour.

    At an event organised by the IT/BT and Science and Technology Department, she said the Centre has given priority to create a synergy between various departments involved in scientific research. She commended the persistence exhibited by Karnataka in creating a suitable ecosystem for biosciences and biotechnology industries.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group for Biotechnology,  Prashanth Prakash, Chairman, Vision Group for Startups, GS Krishnan, honorary president, ABLE, ABLE, Meena Nagaraj, Director, Department of IT/BT and others were present. Earlier, Nirmala visited the Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology and Bangalore Bioinnovation Center at Electronics City.

    NIRMALA MEETS IT-BT, STARTUP REPRESENTATIVESWhile interacting with biotech and startup leaders, Nirmala said the Centre has given priority to create a synergy between various departments involved in scientific research. She commended the persistence exhibited by Karnataka in creating a suitable ecosystem industries.

  • Bring petrol, diesel under GST: Ajit Pawar urges Centre

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday demanded that petrol and diesel be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and said the move would benefit the state governments as well as the Centre.

    He also assured the Maharashtra government’s support on this move if it is implemented.

    Speaking in the state Legislative Assembly while replying to a debate on the budget, Pawar, who is the Finance Minister, said, “The central government should bring petrol and diesel under the purview of GST. The move will be beneficial to the state governments and the Centre.”

    He said he has restored the state legislators’ salaries, which was cut by 30 per cent during the COVID-19 lockdown last year, and increased the MLA fund from Rs three crore to Rs four crore.

    Pawar, who had presented the state budget on Monday, said he has amended the proposal to increase the excise duty on branded and non-branded country liquor to all kinds of country liquor.

    “The increase will be 220 per cent of the manufacturing cost or Rs 187 per proof litre, whichever is higher,” he said.

    The budget proposals and the Appropriation Bill were passed by a voice vote on Wednesday.

    Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, during his speech on the budget demands, said, “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray often recalls what was spoken behind closed doors, but why doesn’the speak about what he promised to the farmers.”

    He alleged that the Jalyukt Shivar, a micro-irrigation scheme launched by his BJP-led government was scrapped by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) dispensation “out of political vengeance”.

    “This government did not respond to any queries regarding the scheme asked by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG),” he said.