The pilot project at Kotkasim, Rajasthan has revealed loopholes, they say

Sampat Rai is a resident of the Kotkasim block of Rajasthan’s Alwar district, where the Cash for Kerosene Scheme (CFKS), an experiment with cash payment of kerosene subsidies, was launched last year on a pilot basis. Mr. Rai is lucky as, unlike other residents of the area, he has a bank account where the kerosene subsidies are supposed to be transferred after he buys kerosene from the market at the market price. But receiving Rs. 90 over the year has increasingly become an expensive affair for the octogenarian as his son has to forego a day’s wage to accompany him to the nearest bank, which is 6 km away from their house.

Mumbai In what could be a festival gift for consumers from oil marketing companies, the price of petrol has been reduced by 95 paise per litre effective Friday. But the relief may be shortlived as state-owned retail entities have expressed concern over the “significant” volatility in dollar-rupee exchange rate that may end the present run of price cuts for petrol.

Oil companies last reduced petrol prices on October 8 marginally by about Rs 0.57 per litre on account of softening of product prices globally on weak demand.

IOC, the largest fuel retailer, will receive a government subsidy of about 161 billion rupees

India will pay 300 billion rupees to state-owned fuel retailers forced to sell at cheaper government-set rates in the first half of the year, said three sources who saw the finance ministry's confirmation letter. The government fixes retail prices of liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene and diesel to protect the poor, leading to revenue losses at state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) .

The Delhi Government on Wednesday decided to provide a free LPG cylinder for the first time to beneficiaries under “Kerosene-free Delhi” scheme and to subsidise three additional cylinders for all 356,395 beneficiaries under the scheme.

Under the scheme, which was approved by the Cabinet on June 26 and which would make Delhi the first kerosene-free State, all AAY/BPL/JRC ration card-holders using kerosene oil were being given LPG cylinders, two burner gas stoves, Suraksha rubber pipes and blue booklets, said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. To make the scheme fully operational and purposeful, the Cabinet now decided to give all beneficiaries cylinders.

As part of its modernisation drive, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has constructed a Rs.330-crore greenfield oil terminal at Ennore.

This will not only enable it to move petroleum products from Ennore Port to its terminal seamlessly through dedicated pipelines, but also decongest the Tondiarpet area in north Chennai. The new oil terminal is expected to start functioning soon. Talking to The Hindu, Y.V.N. Sarma, DGM - Ennore Project, HPCL Chennai New Terminal, said the current HPCL terminal was located on 15 acres of land having a tankage of 50,000 KL at Tondiarpet. HPCL had decided to discontinue its operations there and move POL products (petroleum, oil and lubricants) to Ennore in a phased manner.

Ruling out any further hike in the prices of diesel and domestic LPG, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday he was wary of applying another round of price hike though the current retail rates were lower than the cost of production.

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) are likely to post a phenomenal Rs.1,67,000-crore revenue loss on diesel, LPG and kerosene sale this fiscal. Last month, the government increased the diesel price by Rs.5.62 a litre and restricted the supply of subsidised LPG to six cylinders a household a year.

IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have incurred a loss of Rs 2,600 cr on sale of petrol during Apr-Sep period

IndianOil, the biggest oil marketing company, has cut petrol prices by Rs 0.56 a litre, with effect from midnight on Monday The other oil marketing majors — Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — are expected to announce cuts shortly. In the capital, petrol will now cost around Rs 67.90 a litre.

New Delhi Petrol price may be cut by about Rs 1.60 per litre later this month as appreciation of rupee against the US dollar has helped state firms make profit on the fuel.

Indian rupee appreciated to five-month high since the government announced allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing. This has eased the cost of imports for oil firms, helping them make profit on sale of petrol. "Yes, there is about Rs 1.60 per litre profit on petrol since October 1. But we want this trend to stabilise before we think of cutting retail prices," a senior executive at one of the three state-owned fuel retailers said.