-The Economic Times The government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) for the kharif season in a range of 16% to 53% to motivate farmers and compensate for higher input costs but the higher purchase prices could stoke food inflation further.  The Committee on Economic Affairs ( CCEA) on Thursday raised the MSP of paddy by Rs 170 per quintal and those of oilseeds like groundnut, sunflower seed and niger seed...

-Reuters Inflation may have accelerated at its fastest pace this year in May, driven by higher food and fuel prices, impeding chances of a rate cut by the central bank at its review next week, a Reuters poll showed. The wholesale price index, India's main inflation gauge, is expected to rise 7.60 percent in May versus a year ago, compared with April's 7.23 percent, the poll of 31 analysts showed. Forecasts ranged from...

Desired outcomes can be reached through a series of ‘imperfect’ small initiatives What is to be done? How can we untie the Gordian knot that has so entangled the political economy of petroleum product prices? This is the question that now exercises our most experienced politicians and our ablest economists. Most well informed people know that a country that imports 80 per cent of its oil requirements cannot de-link itself from the...

-The Economic Times The government has removed roadblocks to coal mining by leading business houses and taken the first step to relax scrutiny of corporate expenditure on oil and gas fields, in a burst of action that has cheered investors and industrialists in the languishing energy sector. A group of ministers recommended to the cabinet on Wednesday that Reliance Power's Chhatrasal block, which is attached to the 4,000 mw Sasan Ultra Mega...

-PTI Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda today said his government would look into the possibilities of reducing cess on petrol after the June 11 biennial elections to the state Legislative Council. "I will look into the possibilities of reducing cess on petrol soon after the elections to the legislative council. For now, I can't comment on the issue due to model code of conduct," he told reporters. The statement comes in the...