Connect with us
Tuesday,11-February-2025
Breaking News

Business

Petrol, diesel prices rise again amid volatility in oil market

Published

on

Petrol

 The prices of petrol and diesel rose simultaneously again on Tuesday amidst volatility in the global oil prices with benchmark crude increasing to above $80 a barrel.

Accordingly, diesel prices increased by 30 paisa per litre in the national capital to Rs 91.07 per litre, while petrol rates rose by 25 paisa per litre to Rs 102.64 a litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer.

Diesel prices have now increased on nine out of the last 12 days taking up its retail price by Rs 2.45 per litre in Delhi.

Diesel prices were raised on Friday by 20 paisa per litre and again by 25 paisa per litre each on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday last week and by 30 paisa per litre on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And again by 30 paisa per litre on Tuesday.

Petrol prices had maintained stability since September 5 but oil companies finally raised its pump prices this week given a spurt in the product prices lately. Petrol prices have also risen on six of the previous eight days taking up its primo price by Rs 1.45 per litre.

OMCs had preferred to maintain their watch prices on global oil situation before making any revision in prices. This is the reason why petrol prices were not revised for last three weeks. But extreme volatility in global oil price movement has now pushed OMCs to effect the increase.

In Mumbai, the petrol price rose by 25 paisa per litre to over Rs 108.67 per litre, while diesel rates increased close to Rs 98.80 a litre.

Across the country as well, petrol and diesel increased between 20-30 paisa per litre but their retail rates varied depending on the level of local taxes.

Fuel prices in the country have been hovering at record levels on account of 41 increases in its retail rates since April this year. It fell on few occasions but largely remained stable.

After rising over three year high level of $80 a barrel earlier this week, global benchmark came down to $78 a barrel and now is again up to $81 a barrel while OPEC+ deciding to stick to its marginal production easing plan and market remaining tight.

Since September 5, when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around $8-9 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.

Under the pricing formula adopted by oil companies, rates of petrol and diesel are to be reviewed and revised by them on a daily basis. The new prices becomes effective from morning at 6 a.m.

The daily review and revision of prices is based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15-days, and foreign exchange rates.

But, the fluctuations in global oil prices have prevented OMCs to follow this formula in totality and revisions are now being made with longer gaps. This has also prevented companies from increasing fuel prices whenever there is a mismatch between globally arrived and pump price of fuel.

Business

India ready to share its experience, expertise with world to ensure AI future for all: PM Modi

Published

on

Paris, Feb 11: India is developing AI applications for the public good and has one of the world’s largest AI talent pools, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday, adding that the country is ready to share its experience and expertise to ensure that the “AI future is for Good, and for All”.

Addressing the ‘AI Action Summit’ here, PM Modi said India is also building its own large language model (LLM), considering its diversity.

“We also have a unique public-private partnership model for pooling resources like computing power. It is made available to our start-ups and researchers at an affordable cost,” informed the Prime Minister.

PM Modi further stated while the positive potential of AI is absolutely amazing, there are many biases that we need to think carefully about.

“We must build quality data sets, free from biases. We must democratise technology and create people-centric applications. We must address concerns related to cyber security, disinformation, and deepfakes. And, we must also ensure that technology is rooted in local ecosystems for it to be effective and useful,” PM Modi emphasised.

AI is developing at an unprecedented scale and speed and being adopted and deployed even faster. There is also a deep inter-dependence across borders.

“Therefore, there is a need for collective global efforts to establish governance and standards, that uphold our shared values, address risks, and build trust,” said the Prime Minister.

The country last month announced to launch its safe and secure indigenous AI model within six months at an affordable cost. Aligning with India’s broader vision to become a global artificial intelligence (AI) hub, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Union Budget speech, announced the creation of three Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in AI for education.

According to PM Modi, governance is not just about managing risks and rivalries.

“Governance is also about ensuring access to all, especially in the Global South. It is where the capacities are most lacking – be it compute power, talent, data, or the financial resources,” he mentioned.

“AI can help transform millions of lives by improving health, education, agriculture and so much more. It can help create a world in which the journey to Sustainable Development Goals becomes easier and faster,” the Prime Minister added.

To do this, the world must develop open-source systems that enhance trust and transparency.

On the debate of job losses due to AI, the Prime Minister said history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology.

“Its nature changes and new types of jobs are created. We need to invest in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future,” he noted.

India has successfully built a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for over 1.4 billion people at a very low cost. It is built around an open and accessible network. It has regulations, and a wide range of applications to modernize our economy, reform governance and transform the lives of our people.

“We have unlocked the power of data through our Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture. And, we have made digital commerce democratic and accessible to all. This vision is the foundation of India’s National AI Mission,” said PM Modi.

Today, India leads in AI adoption and techno-legal solutions on data privacy.

“We are at the dawn of the AI age that will shape the course of humanity. Some people worry about machines becoming superior in intelligence to humans. But, no one holds the key to our collective future and shared destiny other than us humans,” the Prime Minister told the gathering.

Continue Reading

Business

Stock market crashes over 1 pc as investors jittery over US tariff moves

Published

on

Mumbai, Feb 11: The Indian stock market on Tuesday continued its downward trend with both Sensex and Nifty ending the day in the red, as investors reacted negatively to the latest tariff measures by US President Donald Trump.

At the closing bell, the Sensex dropped by 1,018.20 points, or 1.32 per cent to close at 76,293.60. During the trading session, the index fluctuated between 77,387.28 at the day’s high and 76,030.59 at the low.

Similarly, the Nifty ended the session down by 309.80 points, or 1.32 per cent to settle at 23,071.80. The index touched a high of 23,390.05 but slipped to 22,986.65 at its lowest point of the day.

As the sell-off in the markets was widespread, 44 out of the 50 Nifty stocks closed the session in the red.

Leading the losses were Eicher Motors, Apollo Hospitals, Shriram Finance, Coal India and Bharat Electronics, which saw declines of up to 6.70 per cent.

On the other hand, only six stocks — Adani Enterprises, Trent, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, and Hindalco — managed to stay in positive territory, with gains of up to 0.76 per cent.

The selling pressure was not limited to large-cap stocks. Broader markets were hit even harder, with the Nifty Smallcap100 falling 3.45 per cent and the Nifty Midcap100 dropping 3.02 per cent.

Market experts believe that the uncertainty around US trade policies and the impact of tariffs on global trade have led to weak investor sentiment.

All sectoral indices on the NSE closed in negative territory amid the broad-based selling pressure in the market.

The Nifty PSU Bank, Auto, Healthcare, Realty, and Media indices saw the steepest declines, with losses extending up to 3.28 per cent.

Meanwhile, sectors like IT, FMCG, and consumer durables also struggled to end the session down by over 1 per cent each.

Meanwhile, the Indian Steel Association (ISA) has expressed deep concern over the US decision to impose tariffs on steel imports, urging the Indian government to push for the removal of long-standing anti-dumping and countervailing duties and to secure exemptions from these restrictive measures.

The latest tariff is expected to slash steel exports to the US by 85 per cent. These tariffs could lead to a massive steel surplus that will likely flood the Indian market, ISA warned.

Continue Reading

Business

Coal demand in India projected to reach 1,755 MT by 2047

Published

on

New Delhi, Feb 10: The coal demand in India is projected to reach 1,462 million tonnes (MT) in 2030 and 1,755 MT by 2047, the government said on Monday.

With the fifth-largest geological coal reserves globally and as the second-largest consumer, coal continues to be an indispensable energy source, contributing to 55 per cent of the national energy mix.

Over the past decade, thermal power, predominantly fueled by coal, has consistently accounted for more than 74 per cent of the total power generation.

Despite commendable strides in promoting renewable energy sources, the sheer growth in electricity demand necessitates a continued reliance on thermal power, with projections indicating its share to be 55 per cent by 2030 and 27 per crnt by 2047, according to Ministry of Coal.

As per the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), the coal sector registered the highest growth of 5.3 per cent in December 2024, reaching 215.1 points compared to 204.3 points in December 2023.

During April-December 2024, the coal industry index increased to 177.6 points from 167.2 points in the previous year, marking a 6.2 per cent growth—the highest among all core industries, according to the government data.

The Combined Index of Eight Core Industries showed an overall growth of 4.0 per cent in December 2024 compared to the previous year.

The index for April-December 2024 increased by 4.2 per cent over the same period in FY 2023-24, emphasising coal’s significant contribution to industrial expansion.

Additionally, the coal sector accounts for about 50 per cent of freight revenue for Indian Railways and provides direct employment to nearly 4.78 lakh individuals.

India’s coal production reached an all-time high of 997.82 million tonnes (MT) in FY 2023-24, marking a significant rise from 609.18 MT in FY 2014-15, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.64 per cent over the past decade.

In FY 2023-24 alone, production has surged by 11.71 per cent compared to the previous year.

A landmark policy reform came with the introduction of commercial coal mine auctions in 2020, encouraging private sector participation and modern technological adoption.

With the vesting of these mines, a total of 107 coal mines have been auctioned under commercial coal mine auctions, with a cumulative PRC of approximately 246.60 MTPA, generating estimated annual revenue of Rs 34,000 crore and employment for about 3,33,000 people.

Continue Reading

Trending