India will today (Monday, June 04) receive the first ever cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd will bring the shipload of LNG from Gazprom, a Russian supplier, at Petronet LNG Ltd’s import terminal in Dahej, Gujarat.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will receive the first consignment at the terminal.

New Delhi is diversifying import basket to meet its vast energy needs.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

 Banking majors SBI and PNB on Friday hiked their benchmark marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for its one-year loans by 10 basis points, effective from June 1.

A basis point is equivalent to 0.01 percentage point.

Prices of petrol and diesel fell around nine paise in the four metro cities on Saturday.

In the national capital, petrol was sold at Rs 78.20 per litre, down from Rs 78.29 on Friday, data on the Indian Oil Corp’s website showed.

In Mumbai and Chennai, petrol prices were at Rs 86.01 and Rs 81.19 a litre respectively, down nine paise from Friday’s levels.

In Kolkata, petrol price fell by eight paise to Rs 80.84 per litre.

Prices of the key transportation fuels have been cut marginally on a daily basis, under the dynamic pricing system since May 30, as global crude oil prices began to ease. Currently, the Brent crude oil is priced around $76 per barrel.

In tandem with petrol prices, diesel prices also witnessed a downturn. In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, the fuel was sold at Rs 69.11, Rs 71.66, Rs 73.58 and Rs 72.97 per litre, all prices down nine paise from Friday’s level.

Revenue collection under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April crossed Rs 94,000 crore and was higher than the average monthly collection of Rs 89,885 crore during 2017-18.

“The total GST collection for May (April revenue collected in May) is Rs 94,016 crore, which is higher compared to average monthly collection of Rs 89,885 crore of 2017-18,” Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said in a tweet.

“This reflects better compliance after introduction of e-way bills,” he added.

Adhia said the number returns filed for the month of April upto May 31 was 62.46 lakh as against 60.47 lakh filed for March till April 30.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas increased by Rs 2.34 and Rs 48 for subsidized and non-subsidised cylinders respectively in New Delhi on Friday.
In yet another blow to the common man after the continuous hike in fuel prices in the past few weeks, the prices for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased by Rs 2.34 and Rs 48 for subsidized and non-subsidised cylinders respectively in the national capital on Friday.

The new price for subsidized (Rs 14.2 Kg) cylinder in Delhi is Rs 493.55, while that of the non-subsidised cylinder is Rs 698.50.

Besides Delhi, the new rates for the subsidized cylinder are Rs 496.65 in Kolkata, Rs 491.31 in Mumbai and Rs 481.84 in Chennai.

Meanwhile, the new prices for the non-subsidised cylinder are Rs 723.50 in Kolkata, Rs 671.50 in Mumbai and Rs 712.50 in Chennai.

This comes after the Central government got slammed for hiking the fuel prices for 16 consecutive days until May 30, when the common man finally got some respite with a mere decline in the petrol and diesel prices.

On Friday, prices for petrol and diesel fell by 6 paise and 5 paise per liter respectively. In Delhi, Petrol now costs Rs 78.29 per litre, while diesel price has been revised to Rs 69.20 a liter.

Prices for petrol and diesel have fallen marginally for the third consecutive day. On Friday, petrol prices were cut by 6 paise and diesel prices by 5 paise per litre. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 78.29 per litre, while diesel price has been revised to Rs 69.20 a litre.

Besides Delhi, the revised Petrol prices in other metro cities are – Rs 80.92 in Kolkata, Rs 86.10 in Mumbai and Rs 81.28 in Chennai. Meanwhile, the revised diesel price was Rs 71.75 in Kolkata, Rs 73.67 in Mumbai and 73.06 in Chennai.

The fuel prices were marginally reduced for the third day after it remained high for 16 consecutive days. The oil companies had on Thursday cut the prices further by 7 paise per litre for petrol and 5 paise per litre for diesel. It came after a day of confusion when it was announced that fuel prices were slashed by 60 paise per litre but was later corrected to 1 paise.

While in morning there was an announcement about petrol prices going down by 60 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, and diesel prices going down by 56 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, it was later clarified by the Indian Oil Corporation that the reduction was of merely 1 paisa per litre.

“There was a technical glitch in posting the selling prices of petrol and diesel. The selling prices of petrol and diesel with effect from May 30, 2018 have been rectified. Today, there is a minor reduction in fuel prices,” the IOC clarified shortly before noon.

Oil companies use 15-day rolling average of Singapore gasoline prices and Arab Gulf diesel prices to arrive at daily rates and so the fall in international oil rates seen in the last few days would be factored in for the revisions in the coming days.

The reduction comes after 16 consecutive price increases since May 14 when fuel retailers ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to pass on a spike in global oil rates. In all, petrol price was increased by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in that fortnight.

Prices vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT. Delhi has the cheapest price among all metros and most state capitals.

Prices of petrol and diesel were cut by one paise on Wednesday after the Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) website initially showed a fall of around 50-60 paise per litre of the fuels.

IOC described the incident as a “technical glitch” and clarified that actual price cut was of one paise a litre.

“There was a technical glitch in posting the selling prices of petrol and diesel on our website today. The selling prices of petrol and diesel w.e.f. (with effect from) May 30, 2018 have been rectified on our website,” a spokesperson with company said, adding: “Today, there is a minor reduction in fuel prices.”

This price cut of “one paise” in petrol and diesel prices across the four metros on Wednesday, came after a daily hike for the last 16 days.

This cut in price, contrasts against nearly Rs 4 per litre rise during May 14-29, with daily hike in prices varying around 15-30 paise a litre.

In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai petrol prices on Wednesday were at Rs 78.42, Rs 81.05, Rs 86.23 and Rs 81.42 per litre respectively, all prices down one paise from Tuesday, according to the revised data on the IOC website.

Further fall in domestic fuel prices is expected as crude oil prices internationally eased recently.

Prices of petrol in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai reached record levels during last two weeks and were scaling new highs everyday. In Kolkata, the fuel was sold near four-year high levels.

In tandem with the trend in petrol, diesel prices on Wednesday were at Rs 69.50, Rs 71.85, Rs 73.78 and Rs 73.17 per litre in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai respectively, again declining byone paise in the four cities.

Despite nation-wide outrage and criticism, petrol and diesel prices were again hiked on Tuesday for the 16th consecutive day. Petrol price in Delhi today is Rs 78.43 a litre while it is being sold at the rate of Rs 86.24 a litre in Mumbai. In Delhi-NCR petrol is being sold at Rs 79.19/litre, Rs 78.95/litre, Rs 78.87/litre and Rs 78.75/litre in Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad respectively.

The price of petrol in Kolkata is Rs 81.06/litre and Rs 81.43/litre in Chennai, according to Indian Oil Corporation. In Bengaluru, one litre of petrol costs Rs 79.71. The revised prices came into effect at 6 am today.

Diesel, which is what most transport vehicles use, also touched a new high. While the price of diesel in Delhi is Rs 69.31/litre and it is Rs 73.79/litre in Mumbai. Diesel in Kolkata and Chennai is being sold at Rs 71.86/litre and Rs 73.18/litre respectively.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Central Government has come under fire over fuel price hike. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier assured the public that the government will soon take out a solution to tackle the situation.

In April, Pradhan had said the Centre and the state governments have been considering bringing the petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax.

Last week, BJP President Amit Shah had said that a plan is being worked upon to check petrol prices in the country. Addressing the furore over fuel price hike, Shah had said that the government officials were taking the issue of fuel price hike seriously.

States can cut petrol price by Rs 2.65/litre by giving up additional gains: SBI

Meanwhile, a State Bank of India (SBI) report on Monday said that states can cut petrol price by Rs 2.65 per litre and diesel by Rs 2 a litre if they decide to forego potential additional gains out of high crude oil rates.

“Given that these revenue if foregone will not impact states fiscal position, we estimate that on an average, states can cut petrol prices by Rs 2.65/litre and diesel by Rs 2/litre, if the entire revenue gain was to be neutralised. This is the most plausible scenario under the current circumstances,” the SBI report said.

It also said that one suggestion to further rationalize the petrol and diesel prices is to consider a pricing mechanism where VAT is imposed on base price only by states and not on prices inclusive of the Centre’s tax.

If this was the case, diesel prices could further reduce by Rs 3.75 a litre and petrol prices by Rs 5.75 per litre, it said.

“However, if this was to happen, the state will have to forego Rs 34,627 crore of tax revenue / 0.2% of consolidated fiscal deficit of states,” said Ecowrap.

On the other hand, if the Centre cuts the excise by Re 1, the loss of revenue will be to the tune of Rs 10,725 crore for every Re 1 cut in central excise and the amount will become twice if it cuts the excise duty by Rs 2.

This will push up the deficit of Centre, unlike states, it added.

Petrol price has been hiked by Rs 3.80 a litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in Delhi; and Rs 3.76 a litre on petrol and Rs 3.59 on diesel in Mumbai since state-owned oil firms ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to resume daily price revision on May 14. The prices are at an all-time high.

Citizens could face a harrowing in the next two days as over a million bank employees in various state-run banks across the country are set to go on a strike from Wednesday to protest a nominal two percent wage hike offered by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Workers at State Bank of India’ branch main branch in Mumbai’s Fort area will hold a demonstration on Tuesday as well.

In the wage negotiation meeting held on May 5, IBA made a proposition to offer two percent hike in the wage bill cost as on March 31, 2017. It also maintained that the negotiations on officers demands would be restricted up to scale III officers only.

D T Franco, general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation said about one million bank officers are expected to participate in the strike on May 30 and May 31.

“It is only because of provisions towards NPA that banks have booked losses, and for this, bank employees are not responsible,” United Forum of Bank Unions’ convener Devidas Tuljapurkar told reporters.

He said in the last two-three years, bank employees have worked tirelessly for implementation of government initiatives such as Jan-Dhan, demonetization, Mudra and Atal Pension Yojana, among others. “This has resulted into huge increase in their workloads,” he said.

In the last wage settlement, which was for the period November 1, 2012 to October 31, 2017, IBA had give a wage hike of 15 percent.

The two-day nationwide strike, commencing on Wednesday, has been called by UFBU which is an umbrella body of nine unions, including All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).

“The volume of business and the volume of work of the employees and officers have gone up enormously in the recent years… In addition, bank employees and officers are compelled to undertake so much of non-banking business and all the burden of doing various government schemes have fallen on the shoulders of the bank staff,” the strike notice issued by UFBU said.

India’s planned Rs 40,000-crore deal to buy the sophisticated, long-range S-400 air defence system from Russia would “complicate” building inter-operability between the US and Indian militaries, a senior US Congressman said here on Monday.

“There is a lot of concern in the US in both the administration and the Congress regarding the S-400 (missile) system. And there is concern that any country, and it is not just India that is looking at clearing it, but any country that acquires that system will complicate our ability to work out inter-operability,” Republican Mac Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed Services, told a group of journalists here.

“So that is completely apart from any sanctions, legislation. I hope the government (of India) will take its time and consider very carefully the acquiring of that system because the difficulties it may pose for us.”

The panel oversees the Pentagon, all military services and all departments of defense agencies, including their budgets and policies. Thornberry and three other members of the panel were in Delhi enroute to the 17th Asia Security Summit (Shangri La Dialogue 2018) in Singapore.

He said the US was making sanctions against Russia “flexible” for its allies like India to allow them breathing room to continue dealing with Moscow only to maintain their legacy equipment but at the sametime they must wean themselves off Russian equipment.

The US sanctions against Russian oligarchs and companies, including Rosoboronexport, the state-owned Russian weapons trading company, has raised concerns in India about a possible impact on India’s military buys from Moscow, particularly the deal to procure S-400 Triumf long-range surface-to-air missile systems

The missile system is billed as a game changer by the Indian military for its ability to counter ballistic missiles and stealth aircraft like those China is developing. India and Russia signed an agreement in principle for the S-400 deal in 2016.

India’s deep military and strategic ties with Russia date back to the beginning of the Cold War even as New Delhi led a movement of “non-aligned” countries that declared their tilt with neither Washington nor Moscow. However, India always leaned toward the USSR.

India still buys over 60 per cent of its defence equipment from Russia. At present, the Indian armed forces are 70 per cent equipped with Soviet or Russian weapons.

Thornberry said a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is awaiting a Senate nod and was passed by the House on May 24, would allow the Trump administration to suspend the sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

But the President, in order to seek the waiver, has to make a certification to Congress that the country subject to sanctions and seeking relaxation is altering its relationship with Russia.

“The current sanctions bill that was just signed in the law last fall doesn’t reallly have much flexibility. But the bill that passed by the House on Thursday adds more flexibility for nations like India who have legacy of Russian military equipment and of course need to purchase spare parts in order to maintain the readiness of that equipment.

“There is an understanding both in the administration and in Congress that some additional flexibility in that law is needed and I believe that there will be…we have to take our bill and reconcile it with the Senate version. But I think there will be some additional flexibility that is… It is not just India there are some other nations as well.”

He said the flexibility at this point allowed the Secretary of Defense some discussion if a country was reducing its dependency on Russia and “has a desire to continue to do so”.

“Some of the government officials (in India) believe that the language could be improved. I am certainly willing to hear suggestions from not only the Indian government but other governments only,” Thornberry said.

Asked how the US viewed India’s dependency on Russia military hardware, he said America would want to encourage New Delhi’s efforts in “seeking to diversify its suppliers of military equipment”.

“It will be a topic of ongoing conversation about whether that is going at an appropriate pace and it makes sense from an Indian point of view that it wants to be less dependent on one particular supplier given the concerns on what this particular supplier has been doing on the world stage.”

He said the the House panel members were in India to affirm the strong bipartisan support in Congress to the India-US strategic partnership.

“We in Congress can contribute in enhancing that partnership. We have had some good and productive discussions with people in government and some people outside the government.”