Jaipur: The ghosts of the grid breakdowns that plunged half of India into darkness last week may continue to haunt us as the network remains susceptible to wild overdrawing by state governments in the face of increasing demand and poor capacity addition. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Even as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) meets on August 14 to get to the bottom of the blackouts, 22-year-old Yashraj Khaitan, a graduate from the University of California, feels that the power

Mumbai: Mumbaikars will have to pay more on all petroleum products they use in their daily lives such as petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene after the oil marketing firms recalibrated rates to

Petrol, diesel prices rise in some states, fall in some after adjustment in surcharge

Oil marketing companies (OMCs) have reworked the surcharge paid towards various state levies. This has led to prices of petroleum products increasing in states such as Maharashtra, Assam and West Bengal and declining in others such as Gujarat and Karnataka. Oil companies maintain this is a revenue-neutral exercise, aimed at adjusting the changes in state taxes.

With the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) being not in place due to the departure of Pranab Mukherjee from the government, the Petroleum Ministry is contemplating sending a proposal of hiking the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and leaving the decision to the Prime Minister.

New Delhi The government may increase the price of diesel later this month to reduce the rising oil subsidy burden, a senior petroleum ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The proposal to raise diesel prices has been kept in abeyance for a long time even though oil companies are losing almost R9 a litre from its sale in the retail market.

In a bid to encourage green technology, Bangladesh is set to unveil solar powered lights on one selected street and install solar powered traffic lights at intersections in the capital.

Pointing out that fiscal deficit was a cause of concern, C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said on Friday that action on reducing fuel and fertilizer subsidies would be taken “as early as possible.”

“I would not like to put a time frame, I can only say that action will be needed and therefore will be taken as early as possible,” he told journalists on the sidelines of an event organised at the Indian Statistical Institute here to mark the birth anniversary of its founder, P.C. Mahalanobis.

New Delhi The sharp fall in petrol prices in Asian markets paved the way for oil marketing companies to reduce petrol prices by R2.46 per litre to R3.22 per litre to provide a much needed relief to consumers. This is the second consecutive price cut by the oil marketing companies — IOC, HPCL and BPCL — after the steepest petrol hike ever on May 24 by R7.54 per litre.