[green_wheel]

Going a bit off on a tangent: The fact is - as long as we are importing fuel we are doomed. All it needs now is another 9/11 or 26-11 scale terrorist attack in any Western capital and fuel imports will grind to a halt and prices will shoot up into the stratosphere. Our governments over the decades, have not rubbed even two brain cells together to think about making the country energy independent.
I seriously doubt our nation's ability to meet the energy needs of its people by the end of this century. We are all smug about being one of the largest economies in the world completely oblivious to the fact that we need energy from outside. If we go to war, all our enemy needs to do is to attack our fuel supply routes and we will be brought down to our knees. Sorry, for sounding unpatriotic, but this country is not the same for which people laid down their lives not so long ago.

[el lobo 6061]

I believe people living in Navi Mumbai which comes under NMMC (Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation) jurisdiction pay the highest fuel price compared to all over India.

Petrol : Rs. 85.06/lt
Diesel : Rs. 61.56/lt

Where are we heading to?

[Eddy]

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[sgiitk]

Now there is some controversy whether the under recovery is Rs.14.50 or 13.90. Also, there is a claim that Petrol should be cheaper by Rs.3.xx and not costlier. The entire noise seems to be due to the Re.=$ rate used - 66 or 63.xx.

As I see it Diesel is being subsidised by Rs.14 or so at the moment, and let us not split hair about the quantum. Also, with the correct rate nearer Rs.64 and the drop in Crude (today Brent is bout $108) can we expect Rs.5 or so cut on Petrol in a fortnight?

[lurker]

In a very clinical observation, one would mark taxes on diesel as part of 'profits' and 'income' to government.

What the govt of the day is talking about is a 'subsidy on taxes' and not really a 'subsidy on profit'. It's basically just cooking of books and book keeping and book managing.

As they say, statistics hides more than it reveals.

If the govt cannot afford the dollar cost of importing such huge quantities of diesel and petrol, then they should promote alternate technology like Solar and CNG. Now CNG is a promising technology as this is a fuel that can be converted into renewable energy if we think about natural gas produced from composting, biogas, methane from recycling waste etc.

But you don't see the govt promoting CNG either outside the 3 or 4 select metros. India doesn't live in these 3 or 4 metros, it lives mainly outside it. So basically the intention is to squeeze the middle-class on the pretext of imported fuel and tax it heavily and thus reduce the budget deficit.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by green_wheel

1. The fact is - as long as we are importing fuel we are doomed. ....... Our governments over the decades, have not rubbed even two brain cells together to think about making the country energy independent.
2. I seriously doubt our nation's ability to meet the energy needs of its people by the end of this century.

1. We need the crude. As it happens both Rajasthan and KG can help. However, we did not want Rajasthan - crude has a high wax content, and are doing our best to stifle KG. Who will prospect for uneconomic realisations. We need to improve our local crude production but do not see self sufficiency on the horizon. Also, paying the real price is the best way of ensuring discipline,

2. Our anti-Nuke lobby (I heard funded by the US and German sources) was at its worst trying to stifle Kudankulam . I hear there is a minor valve glitch but it should be up to 50% and synchronised by the end of the month.

[lurker]

KG was handed over to Reliance (of all people) and Reliance has a vested interest to perpetuate oil imports into infinity. This 'oil import lobby' that was recently tearfully trotted out as an excuse for not developing Indian hydrocarbon reserves by Moily Veerappan basically consists of Reliance as it's prime mover.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by lurker

KG was handed over to Reliance (of all people) and Reliance has a vested interest to perpetuate oil imports into infinity.....

Whether we like Reliance or not is there any other group which can do such an expensive and risky task. I doubt whether anyone else has the financial muscle. They had to rope in BP since they reaslised that they do not have the expertise.

[k149in]

In my opinion, this is the best time government is having a free hand to raise petrol prices. As elections approach, no matter how much dollar prices go up, they will have to think very hard on increasing the oil prices. Government is aware of uncomfort urban is having and mostly likely they may reduce as we go near the elections..again, people generally dont remember much of their suffering few days after problems disappear

[GTO]

Mod Note: As per Rule #13, please avoid any political discussions on this thread.

Thank you!

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by k149in

In my opinion, this is the best time government is having a free hand to raise petrol prices. As elections approach, no matter how much dollar prices go up, they will have to think very hard on increasing the oil prices.

Petrol is ostensibly free, as is ATF (fancy name for uncontrolled Kerosene). I look forward to the day when all fuels are freely priced, and maybe on the calorific content. Then distortions in the demand will go away. If Maruti and Tata suffer (reduced sales of Diesel vehicles) so be it.

Controlling prices and subsidising hurts the people even more due to high inflation, and demand distortions. Only the effect is not obvious and may take some time to filter through. If you want to support the poor then Direct Cash Transfer in my view is the best.

[drmohitg]

So rupee has made a dramatic recovery today. Can we expect some roll backs now?

[lurker]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Whether we like Reliance or not is there any other group which can do such an expensive and risky task. I doubt whether anyone else has the financial muscle. They had to rope in BP since they reaslised that they do not have the expertise.

and

..

the production dropped to low negligible levels not affecting the total import bill. So much for BP's expertise. BP could also be a tool in hands of more powerful lobbies. Reliance corpus capital upon incorporation was mainly funded by Rockefeller on model of John D.'s Standard Oil, which was a straddling monopoly. You can read old Illustrated weekly memoirs of Mukesh and Anil's meetings with these American groups for capital funding to verify this. All these are foreign interests whose agendas clash in India using various benamis. It's not as if some Indian has put money by pledging his own house for any of these ventures.

Now why should these foreign interest's and their benamis care about boosting India's domestic capacity especially when that runs contrary to their interests.

[Jignesh]

Hello Friends,

Rupee has made a huge upmove today & it currently it stands at 61.65 against 1 USD.

From the all time lows of Rs. 66 / 67 this is a very quick recovery. Shall we expect fuel price cut soon? I believe when Rupee USd exchange was around Rs. 60, the Petrol prices were around Rs. 78 / 79 per liter in Mumbai.

This upmove will also improve government's ever increasing fuel subsidy figures.

Thanks,

[sgiitk]

@Jignesh; Expect the rupee to correct a bit, though there are some projections of a sub 60 level. However, now the diesel increase may be only Rs3 or so.