Plans are afoot to cap the number of subsidised LPG cylinders at six to eight per annum to reduce the losses of state-run oil firms and bring down the burgeoning subsidy bill. Oil ministry officials said consumers might have to pay more for every additional cylinder, and the amount would be gradually linked to market rates. Sources said the finance ministry had asked the oil ministry to revisit its proposal made last...

-The Economic Times It is not uncommon for Indian companies to encounter situations that require ingenious engineering combined with a uniquely Indian approach to problem solving. Automobile companies around the world have developed some exquisitely advanced diesel engine technologies, but Indian companies had to go one step ahead. More than a decade ago, as Indian car manufacturers began improving their diesel engines, some of their customers tried to reverse their efforts by...

-Down to Earth WHO agency says there is compelling evidence to classify diesel fumes as deadly carcinogen along with tobacco, asbestos The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Health Organization, gives its scientific verdict that diesel engine exhaust can cause lung cancer in humans. In its report released on June 12, IARC has reclassified diesel exhaust from its group 2A list of probable carcinogens to its...

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 Times of India State-run fuel retailers on Saturday reduced petrol price by Rs 1.68 per litre, excluding state taxes. This means consumers in Delhi would pay Rs 2 less per litre at pumps from midnight and will see an additional 92 paise reduction next week after the local government notifies a reduction in the value added tax (VAT). In other states, the extent of decline would vary by a few paise...