[wilful]

Originally Posted by smartcat

that Kargil lady (forget her name all the time)

That 'Kargil' Lady's name is Barkha Dutt - just for the record.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Its called Karma! We are strong believers in fate and destiny

It's not just us.

Regards,
spadix

[sgiitk]

Now that the noise on Petrol hike is dying down wait for the Diesel (and maybe LPG and/or Kerosene) hike. I do not see later than mid-June for this/these.

[selfdrive]

To reply to the OP; honestly the petrol price would have marginal impact on my finances. The other topics which affect my finances more are upward change in the home loan interest rates or commodity & service prices. People will get a bit hot headed about this, but the inflation in petrol is quite inconsequential compared to the inflation in other items of our monthly budget. Has someone bothered to look at prices of, say milk or vegetables? Vegetable prices for example have risen by about 60%!
And we eat more vegetables than my car drinks petrol (ie in terms of budget %)

As for commuting, if it gets too expensive to drive a petrol car, I will switch to using the motorbike. If it is still expensive, I can choose to give up convenience and take office transport and work in shifts where it is free of cost. I will still use the car for family runs and longer drives due to the comfort, convenience and safety factors. It is anytime cheaper than taking ricks everywhere (if you find one who is willing to go where you want to!). If I had a diesel car, it would obviously be cheaper, but for that I have to buy one. For that, I have to sell my petrol car for which the resale value (if there is a buyer) is not worth the switch.

So I tell myself that petrol costs are better than public transport but not as cheap as a diesel option.
An example: on a recent trip to Mahaby, the Jazz devoured about 1000 bucks worth of petrol (to, fro & sightseeing) for 4 of us and our luggage. If I had a diesel the cost would probably be 700 (not sure, its just a number so dont jump on me! it could be 600 or 800, I dont care) but if we used public transport, the expenses would be manifold. SO I take it as an opportunity loss and move on with it.
There are bigger battles to fight here.

Edit: as far as I know, I can leave my petrol car in the parking lot for a few weeks at a stretch and go for a longer drive as and when I can afford it. Not sure a diesel mill would respond kindly to such behaviour, once diesel prices are hiked.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Just 2%? Then probably you won't feel the pinch. When I was using my wagonR for daily run, my monthly fuel expense was around 40% of my take away income.

For your wallet's sake, I hope you find a vocation that pays you for your fuel at actuals!

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Now that the noise on Petrol hike is dying down wait for the Diesel (and maybe LPG and/or Kerosene) hike. I do not see later than mid-June for this/these.

yes, as soon as the news channels get tired of this, then give it 3 weeks and then we are ripe again for another picking. We will cluck collectively and either change the channel or turn the page of the newspaper. After all, we do convince ourselves that we are too inconsequential to change anything.
Of course, with diesel there would be too many opportunistic hawks to take advantage of this. Nowadays everyone wants to earn enough commission/ profit to buy a 3bhk flat and a 10lakh car within a couple of years, regardless of what business they are in

[sgiitk]

The simple thing is that pleasure motoring is , maybe 10% of my driving. Also, as fuel goes up so do taxi costs. So there is no option.

[simplyself]

Originally Posted by Gansan

The diesel pricing will have to implode sooner than later. Sale of diesel cars is already up and may pretty soon overtake petrol cars. A diesel Wagon-R seems to be already in the pipe line. What happens if the grand daddy of all, a diesel Alto, and the diesel Nanos are born?

Wait for hitherto petrol only models have diesel counterparts which would then outsell their petrol brethren, then raise diesel prices.

[supremeBaleno]

I doubt the hikes really make a significant difference financially to most people here. I usually tank up ~36 litres (Rs2500) every time the fuel level reaches the red mark and do a max of 2 such fills monthly. So instead of Rs5000, it will now cost me Rs5600, with the extra 600bucks not being a big deal.

While there is this whole thing about taxes/customs/excise constituting half or more of the retail price of fuel and thus the hike not being really mandated, I believe it is in one way a good thing to price such non-replenishable commodities a little high so that responsible usage is ensured.

A similar thought process is echoed by economist Paul Krugman in the form of a fuel-tax in the US so that responsible usage (wastage avoidance) can be ensured in the US, which is one of the largest consumers of fuel. And this will help there because whenever fuel prices rise, there is noticeable decrease in purchase/usage of gas in the US. If they are kept low, people there can be seen leaving the engine turned on while parked with no one in, while they go attend business at some hotel/mall for 5-15mins.

Since diesel also needs this responsible usage but we can't hike prices due to the effect on inflation/agriculture, it is time the Govt sets the balance by slapping a high-enough-to-deter tax on diesel vehicles, as a %age of their factory price - so the higher the cost of the diesel car, the higher the tax. And while they are at it, maybe they could add a similar tax system for personal diesel vehicles already on the roads - an annual green tax if you may.

BTW I noticed that the salaries of most people in my team have at a minimum doubled in the last 3 years (2009 - 2012). Compared to that, petrol prices have not doubled in the same duration (in May2009, petrol cost Rs44.24 in Chennai, with current price being ~Rs78) - so atleast salary is ahead of fuel-price inflation.

[CANPUSH]

The problem is, even if the diesel cars are charged higher duty/ cess the amount collected will go to general government kitty and not to oil companies which are subsidizing diesel hugely.
If diesel prices are hiked that will have a cascading effect on all commodities and everything will become costly. But some day they have to bite the bullet. May be they start establishing good and wide network for CNG so that entire transport sector can largely shift to CNG and then they can stop subsidy of diesel. (In that case diesel will be about 5% costlier than petrol)
But diesel shock is bound to be much higher than petrol.

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

The problem is, even if the diesel cars are charged higher duty/ cess the amount collected will go to general government kitty and not to oil companies which are subsidizing diesel hugely.

It is the Govt. offering subsidies to the oil companies to keep diesel prices lower. So money collected by way of higher duty on diesel cars will eventually be used to subsidize diesel. While petrol car owners also contribute to this subsidy in one way or the other (taxes), the Govt. will happily charge higher duty on diesel cars and fill their kitty. The oil companies will always cry about losses and crib. Its a chain of repetitive events which affect the common man the most.

[shankar.balan]

The roll back of Rs 1.60/- is fine. However, there will come a time when the Boy Who Cried Wolf will repent. No one takes our Government seriously anyway!

Frankly, they should simply reduce some of the taxes on Fuel and keep the prices reasonable. All these taxes are pure cream for the government and they actually do so very little for us in return! This fact applies for all of us road users and tax payers regardless of whether we drive petrol or diesel!

Next, they should completely privatize all the Oil Majors and cut away all the excess load/ deadwood in terms of employees, to ensure that overall efficiencies are increased.

Having said all this, the price I paid for Petrol recently in Australia was about 1.5 AUD = around Rs 85 ish give or take.

The thing is, I dont know how much is going off in terms of taxes there. Is it the same as India or less or more? All I can say is that for whatever taxes are collected, the returns to the tax paying users, are very high indeed.

I would never ever grumble at paying more, provided I receive good quality, efficiency, fairness and decency in return, from my government.

[lapis_lazuli]

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

The oil companies will always cry about losses and crib. .

Considering the more than handsome salaries the oil companies pay out.........

It was never OK for me, queuing up in front of the pumps to save may be 200 rupees. Good driving practice, little planning before going for shopping (to limit repeat travels)/visiting places and walking instead of driving within the neighborhood/mohalla, say, a km radius would save multiples of that 200 in any case.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Next, they should completely privatize all the Oil Majors and cut away all the excess load/ deadwood in terms of employees, to ensure that overall efficiencies are increased.

They should also be asked to cut on their advertising spends. I think its totally unnecessary to hire cricketers on huge contracts.

Think about it; do we really go looking for a specific petrol pump because Dhoni advertises it? Heck, I dont even recall which brand he advertises.
Maybe he can sell biscuits and toothpaste but what does he have to do with oil?
We just end up going to the nearest pump which offers assurance that the fuel is unadulterated and short fueling tricks are not used. That should be enough.

Also, while we are at it some of the massive perks (edit: not the chocolate ones) doled out to the middle/ senior management should be reworked as part of an austerity drive. Better do it now than in a proper economic depression which unfortunately does not seem far away.

[srh]

For me, it is inconsequential. However, I do know many people for whom it matters a lot. An example is the cook who comes to my house. Upgrading from a cycle to a motorbike helped him improve his productivity in terms of the number of households he is able to visit in the morning time. That helped him make a decent living in an expensive city like Bangalore. I am sure that this hike pinches him very badly.


P.S. - I am already thinking of giving him a hike to compensate. His services are invaluable

[Sunney]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Now that the noise on Petrol hike is dying down wait for the Diesel (and maybe LPG and/or Kerosene) hike. I do not see later than mid-June for this/these.

Reply to OP: Oh no, not at all affected me, 'cause I jump into my Diesel car even to go to kitchen from my bedroom, not hiring even Auto Rickshaws, fearing Petrol !
But I pray to all Gods, not to send the bolt that terrorising me as mentioned above by sgjitk, till completion our forthcoming long drive to Ladakh...