The finance ministry is considering whether it can lower the excise duty

The government would take a hit of about Rs 6,000 crore this year if it rolls back the excise duty of Rs 1.5 per litre on diesel it levied last week.
Under pressure from the Trinamool Congress, the finance ministry is evaluating its options for a possible reduction in the excise duty, without taking a major hit on its overall revenue collection. Excise duty on diesel was levied to neutralise the loss the exchequer would have borne after an excise duty reduction of Rs 5.30 a litre on petrol, said a finance ministry official.

IOC has been pleading with the government to move petrol back to a controlled regime

After two months of losses, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have started making profits on sale of petrol, thanks to the softening global price and an excise cut announced by the government last week. The OMCs have begun making a margin of around Rs 1 on every litre sold. The three — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — were losing around Rs 6 on every litre of petrol in the first fortnight of this month. To prevent any price increase in petrol, the government last Thursday cut the excise duty by Rs 5.30 a litre. Until then, it was charging Rs 14.78 through excise on every litre. The move almost covered the loss that the OMCs were incurring on petrol.

The record hike in the prices of diesel has made the petrol models more cost effective for the consumers.

The Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, S. Jaipal Reddy, has ruled out an immediate hike in fuel prices now.

Consumers may have to brace for steep hikes in the prices of petroleum products such as diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and petrol after Parliament’s monsoon session ends on September 7.

New Delhi Consumers may have to brace for steep hikes in the prices of petroleum products such as diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and petrol after Parliament’s monsoon session ends on September 7.

New Delhi Rising global crude oil prices over the last four years have inflated India’s subsidy bill, but the burden on the exchequer could have been higher hadn't the fiscally-conscious government reduced its share of the onus, at the cost of upstream oil companies.

According to official data, between 2008-09 and 2011-12, the Centre reduced its direct funding of oil marketing companies’ losses — from 69.02% of the total estimated under-recoveries to 46.24%. Consequently, upstream firms such as ONGC, OIL and GAIL funded 38% of the under-recoveries in 2011-12, as against 30.98% in 2008-09.

Exactly two years later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set up yet another Group of Ministers (GoM) after key ministries disagreed on the basic tenets of a 2007 Cabinet decision to blend ethanol

Mumbai: The stage is set for another round of petrol price hike with the Indian basket of crude oil increasing by over $10 to $113 per barrel since the prices were revised last on July 24.