Citizens are yet to receive any respite from skyrocketing fuel prices, as the retail rates of petrol and diesel have once again witnessed a hike on Tuesday.
In Delhi, petrol is being sold atRs 82.83 per litre after an increase of 11 paise, while diesel rates have escalated to Rs 75.69 per litre after a hike of 23 paise.
Petrol prices in Mumbai are inching closer to the Rs 90 per litre mark, as petrol is retailing 11 paise higher at Rs. 88.29 per litre. The price of diesel, on the other hand, has been revised by 24 paise to retail at Rs 79.35.
Fuel prices have been soaring since the past few months in the country, causing many problems for commuters.
While the Opposition has repeatedly blamed the Centre for the steep hike in the fuel price, the latter has maintained that global crude oil prices and other international factors are responsible for the increase in prices of petroleum products.
In a bid to ease the crunch caused by soaring fuel prices, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a reduction of Rs 2.50 per litre on both petrol and diesel prices after curbing excise duty on the commodity by Rs 1.50 per litre. He had also directed all state governments to slash rates.
While the revision in prices was implemented in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Jharkhand and Goa, a number of states are yet to implement the decision.
CEOs and Experts from the Oil and Gas sector, from both India and abroad, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The gathering included Ministers from Saudi Arabia and UAE, and CEOs and experts from organisations including Saudi ARAMCO, ADNOC, BP, Rosneft, IHS Markit, Pioneer Natural Resources Company, Emerson Electric Company, Tellurian, Mubadala Investment Company, Schlumberger Ltd., Wood Mackenzie, World Bank, International Energy Agency (IEA), NIPFP, Brookings India and various Indian companies involved in both upstream and downstream operations.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan; Vice-Chairman NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar and senior officials from the Union Government and NITI Aayog were also present at the interaction.
Interacting with the global leaders of the energy sector, Prime Minister highlighted the significant positioning of India in the oil and gas market. He noted that the oil market is producer driven; and both the quantity and prices are determined by the oil producing countries. Though there is enough production, the unique features of marketing in the oil sector have pushed up the oil prices. Prime Minister Modi made a strong case for a partnership between the producers and consumers, in the oil market, as it exists in other markets. This will help stabilise the global economy which is on path of recovery.
PM Modi highlighted that the consuming countries, due to rising crude oil prices, face many other economic challenges including serious resource crunch. The cooperation of the oil producing countries would be very critical to bridge this gap. He appealed to oil producing countries to channel their investible surplus to pursue commercial exploitation in oil sector in the developing countries. Secondly, he spoke of higher acreage under exploration and sought cooperation of the developed countries both in terms of technology and extension of coverage. Thirdly, he sought the role of private participation in the distribution of gas sector. Talking of technology, he appealed for assistance in areas where high pressure and high temperature technology applications are relevant to commercial exploitation of natural gas. Lastly and importantly, he requested for review of payment terms so as to provide temporary relief to the local currency.
