This certainly won’t help swallow the bitter petrol-hike pill.
Cornered by Opposition and allies over the issue of petrol price hike, the Congress today pressed the government for a decision to ease the burden on people even as petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy ruled out any immediate rollback.
Following the historical decline of the rupee, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to discuss the issue. HT reports.
Expect a
Rs. 2-2.50-per-litre cut in petrol prices over the “next few days” as the government works out a plan to soften the blow of the
Rs. 7.54-a-litre hike. The cut could get bigger, if the government manages to convince the states to reduce taxes on petrol as well as diesel.
Anupama Airy reports.
For babus, fuel frozen at Rs. 24 a litre
Oil minister Jaipal Reddy today said that he didn't discuss fuel hike during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is not going to meet Sonia Gandhi on the issue, according to reports.
Uncertainty over the fate of the euro currency is already dampening US economic growth and any significant worsening of the crisis would deal a blow to a recovery that is gradually gathering steam.
European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme.
The rupee posted its first gain against the US dollar on Thursday after six straight sessions of decline, recovering from a new record low earlier in the day, after RBI governor D Subbarao said the central bank may consider selling dollars directly to oil importers,
HT reports.
Humpty-dumpty
India's largest oil refiner Indian Oil Corp today defended a sharp hike in petrol prices that triggered protests and a political backlash, and vowed to rollback the measure if international oil prices fall.
A government committee headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet on Friday to discuss raising diesel, liquified petroleum gas and kerosene prices, a finance ministry official said.
India fumes over petrol price hike
European leaders will try to breathe life into their stricken economies at a summit late on Wednesday, but disagreement over a plan for mutual bond issuance and other measures to alleviate two years of debt turmoil has already been laid bare.
Amid rising prices, sliding rupee and falling growth, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were robust enough to tide over the crisis. HT reports.
Kicking-off work on the long discussed US-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, India and its new energy partners on Wednesday signed agreements that will pave way for laying of the 1,680-km line.