Fuel prices set to rise, but govt may step in
The Indian Oil Corporation indicated on Tuesday that petrol and diesel prices may continue to be hiked for a few more days even if international crude oil prices stabilise. “We need to understand that right now our prices are driven by the last 15 days’ average. So if for 15 days international prices rise and if after that it doesn’t rise in the international market, we will still see a rise ( in petrol and diesel prices),” a senior IOC official said.
The Narendra Modi government is, however, under tremendous political pressure to give relief to the public from high fuel prices and some steps are expected to be announced this week itself.
New Delhi, May 22: Spot power price touched fiveyear high of ` 11.41 per unit at IEX on Tuesday, which experts attributed to aggressive bidding by captive units following the government’s decision to ramp up coal supplies to power plants.
The government decided last week to augment coal supplies to Central and state power plants and independent power producers ( IPPs) from May 19 to June 30 to overcome shortage of the dry fuel and check power crisis.
The decision was taken in a joint meeting of power, coal and railways ministries on May 17, 2018.
“The government is ramping up coal supplies to power plants at the cost of captive power producers. This is one of the main reasons for price touching a peak of ` 11.41 per unit in day ahead market today at IEX,” Indian Captive Power Producers Association secretary Rajiv Agarwal said.
He further said: “If somebody is running continuous process- based industry like aluminium, then he cannot wait for power supply. They are required to arrange power for their businesses.”
The power sector has been witnessing coal shortage since last year, resulting in surge in spot prices to as high as ` 10.80 per unit in September 2017. In October, the government said the issue of coal supply to power plants is being addressed in a co- coordinated manner by the ministries of power, coal and railways.
According to an expert, ` 11.41 per unit is a fiveyear high rate of power at Indian Energy Exchange ( IEX) which is mainly triggered by the government’s decision to stop supplies to captive power producers till June 30. However, the average spot power price was ` 6.28 per unit.
According to an expert, 11.41 per unit is a five- year high rate of power at IEX. The rise was triggered by the government’s decision to stop supplies to captive power producers till June 30.