-The Hindu With emphasis in the 12th Plan on the social services sectors for achieving more inclusive growth, the Delhi Budget has allocated Rs.9,796 crore or 65 per cent of the total Plan outlay of Rs.15,000 for 2012-13 on this sector. The money, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, will be used for various social welfare schemes. These include the Dilli Annashree Scheme, under which two lakh vulnerable households would be provided food...

-The Economic Times The government has no immediate plans to raise the retail prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Monday. "I am not touching (the prices of) diesel, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) or kerosene," Reddy said, adding, no date has yet been fixed for a meeting of a ministerial panel to review the prices of the three subsidised fuels. State-owned oil fuel retailers announced an...

Most states now levy greater tax on petrol than the central government, without having to share the subsidy burden. After last week’s increase in prices, state sales tax/VAT on petrol is more than central excise in most cases. The central government levies a fixed excise duty of Rs 14.78 on every litre of petrol. But, states levy an ad valorem tax which, in absolute terms, increases with every price increase of...

-PTI Government today said it planned to provide direct subsidy to beneficiaries of kerosene oil and a pilot project in this regard in Alwar district of Rajasthan was yielding good results. "Direct subsidy on kerosene is planned in future ... We have to move towards it. It will be done using UID cards... We are benefiting from the pilot project," minister of state for petroleum and natural gas RPN Singh said in...

-The Economic Times Open-ended consumption subsidies on petroleum products have wrought havoc on government finances. Reportedly, the trio of public sector oil marketing companies have of late blocked some 3.8 million parallel household connections of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), in a bid to rationalise the subsidy outgo. The move to weed out multiple LPG connections does make sense. But we need to keep the big picture in mind and overhaul the pricing and...