-The Times of India Get ready to pay more for fuels shortly. The hike is likely to kick in soon after Parliament's budget session ends on May 22. In a clear indication of the inevitable, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday warned of "disastrous consequences" if "corrective steps" were not taken to deal with the problem of high oil prices and seemingly endless subsidy.  "Petroleum prices are increasing by leaps and bounds....

-The Economic Times Soaring vegetable prices pushed inflation higher in April, while fuel and manufactured product prices sustained their pressure posing a fresh policy challenge and announcing the return of price pressures in Asia's third-largest economy. Data released by the commerce & industry ministry on Monday showed the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index, stood at 7.23% for April, 2012, compared to 6.89% for the previous month and...

-The Times of India Taking a cue from the RBI governor D Subbarao, market leader Indian Oil Corporation indulged in grand standing on Tuesday by saying state-run retailers would raise petrol price by almost Rs 10 per litre, if the government did not reduce excise duty or did not compensate their Rs 49-crore daily loss on the fuel. "We have been very patient, not raising prices since December despite our cost of...

-PTI While petrol prices are market-linked, govt fixes LPG, kerosene and diesel rates, which results in huge expenditure on subsidies Making a case for raising prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, the Reserve Bank today said hike in rates of petroleum products is necessary to arrest fiscal slippages. "Overall from the perspective of vulnerabilities emerging from the fiscal and current account deficits, it is imperative for macroeconomic stability that administered prices of petroleum...

An across-the-board increase in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices is likely by mid-May, immediately after the Budget is passed in Parliament.  "There is a lot of pressure on the government from oil companies to increase fuel prices but they been informally told to hold on till the Budget is passed in Parliament," a senior government official told HT. "There may be one small increase in petrol price that is likely to...