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The government on Tuesday hiked windfall gains tax on export of petrol and diesel, and reduced it marginally on ATF for the next fortnight. The rate of special additional excise duty (SAED) along with road and infrastructure cess on export of diesel now stands at Rs 25 per litre, up from Rs 24 a litre. SAED on export of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been set at Rs 19 per litre, compared to Rs 19.5 per litre earlier. The duty on petrol exports has been hiked to Rs 1.5 per litre effective September 1, up from zero earlier. The Finance Ministry in a notification said the duty hikes will be effective from September 1. Amid escalating tensions in West Asia, the Government imposed an export duty on diesel and ATF on March 27 and revised the rate every fortnight. Beginning May 16, the levy was imposed on petrol exports. The ministry also said that there is no change in the existing duty rates on petrol and diesel cleared for domestic consumption. The windfall tax was levied to incre
Petrol and diesel sales by India's three state-run fuel retailers rose sharply in July as below-normal monsoon rainfall boosted fuel demand from farmers and motorists, preliminary industry sales data showed. Petrol sales by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) climbed 9.7 per cent to 3.45 million tonnes during July, compared with 3.14 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year ago. The volume was also 15.1 per cent higher than 2.99 million tonnes sold during July 2024 and 36.1 per cent above the level recorded in the same period of 2023. Compared to June, however, petrol sales fell 1.1 per cent from 3.48 million tonnes. Diesel sales, a key indicator of economic activity in India, rose 10.7 per cent year-on-year to 7.12 million tonnes in July from 6.43 million tonnes a year earlier. Diesel is India's most widely used fuel, powering freight transport, agricultural machinery and irrigation. Below-normal monsoon rainfal
Petrol and diesel sales by India's three state-run fuel retailers rose sharply in the first half of July, helped by below-normal monsoon rainfall that boosted fuel demand from farmers and motorists, preliminary sales data showed on Thursday. Petrol sales by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) climbed 22.9 per cent to 1.63 million tonnes during July 1-15, compared with 1.33 million tonnes in the corresponding period a year earlier. The volume was also 26.7 per cent higher than 1.29 million tonnes sold during the first half of July 2024 and 38.6 per cent above the level recorded in the same period of 2023. Compared with the first half of June, however, petrol sales fell 4.4 per cent from 1.71 million tonnes. Diesel sales, a key indicator of economic activity in India, rose 20.9 per cent year-on-year to 3.46 million tonnes in the first fortnight of July from 2.87 million tonnes a year earlier. The volume was 18.4 per cent hig
The government has restricted industrial, commercial and institutional users from buying petrol and diesel from petrol pumps and instead asked them to source their requirements from bulk sale points, according to an official order. The restrictions, which will be in place for up to 90 days, follows abnormal demand growth, particularly that of diesel, in some pockets after bulk users started buying fuel from petrol pumps due to the pricing difference. While diesel at petrol pumps costs Rs 95.20 a litre in Delhi, bulk sales are priced at Rs 134.50. The differential arose as state-owned oil companies modulated retail prices to insulate common users from the spike in cost that followed the West Asia crisis in late February. While bulk users such as telecom towers and industries using diesel for power generation and other feedstock needs are charged market price, the retail pump rates are way lower than cost. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on June 11 issued the Motor Spirit an
India is likely to bring a mandate on blending isobutanol with diesel as early as this year to improve energy security in the country and decarbonise the road and highways sector, Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Secretary V Umashankar said on Friday. Addressing the 'CII Multimodal Transportation and Logistics Summit', Umashankar further said that the highways ministry may bring a draft notification on truck-trailers interchangeability soon to build an ecosystem that needs battery-swapping and battery charging for electric heavy duty commercial vehicles. "Blending of diesel has been looked into with great seriousness. Bharat Petroleum is already undertaking strategic research for isobutanol blending with diesel. And the results are very encouraging. "It is quite likely that the blending mandate will start coming in somewhere later this year," he said. Umashankar said since diesel consumption is almost two times that of petrol, the impact on blending in terms of die
The consumer affairs ministry has amended legal metrology rules to allow government-approved testing centres to verify hydrogen, LPG, LNG and CNG fuel dispensers, expanding the country's measurement oversight framework as cleaner fuel adoption grows. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution amended the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, bringing the total number of instrument categories verifiable through Government Approved Test Centres (GATCs) to 23 from 18. Verification fees for petrol and diesel dispensers have been set at Rs 5,000 per nozzle, while CNG, LPG, LNG and hydrogen dispensers will attract a higher fee of Rs 10,000 per nozzle. "The move is expected to enhance the availability of verification services, improve efficiency and support the growing adoption of cleaner fuels across the country," the ministry said in a statement. GATCs are approved private facilities with the technical expertise to carry out verification and