IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

[Nidhin Sasi]

A video of the protests conducted by ITEC on Saturday Against Fuel Price Hike, pls spread the video and online petition below among your group members, friends, colleagues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80bB8FuKqs&feature=youtu.be

T/ITeS Employees protested against the steep fuel price hike of Rs. 7.54 which would cause adverse affects to all sections of people in the country. ITEC (IT/ITeS Employees organized protests in BTM and Koramangala.

Please break your silence and join us.........

Also please sign this online petition and spread among your friends and colleagues - http://www.change.org/petitions/it-employees-protest-against-fuel-price-hike-in-bangalore

[S Chidambaran]

Are you nuts? What does this have to farmer suicides?
And why should IT employees protest a fuel hike? Let them stop using their expensive cars. Go use the bus or learn to cycle.

Regards,
Chiddu

PS : Please let me know if there is a way to counter such ridiculous petitions

[haynes davis]

correct.. farmers are living in hell and software guys in heaven..

isnt there someone left on earth to do all these?

one more question.. why the bloody IT employees are here in this forum?

[S Chidambaran]

The absurdity is in the subsidy , not the hike.

On Wednesday 30 May 2012 02:06 PM, Suresh Kodoor wrote:

In fact if there is one community which is most affected by the petrol price hike, it must be the farmers!! This absurdly steep hike in petrol price is one another big blow on farmers, who are already realizing that there is no way to escape from this hell other than taking their own life! And, you think petrol price hike has nothing to do with farmer's suicide?! 

Petrol price affect only your vehicle budget (thus if you dont use car, you escape from price hike) is too a simplistic view. There is pretty much nothing that is not affected by the fuel price fluctuation.

Suresh

---

From: S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com>
To: farmer-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Farmer Suicides] IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

[Soundarya]

fuel price hikes are seen to cause food inflation. and since many poor farmers have to sell all their produce to repay debts, and then buy from the market once again for consumption, farmers are likely to get hit by a fuel price hike. 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/petrol-price-hike-to-have-marginal-impact-on-inflation/articleshow/13425646.cms?intenttarget=no 

[S Chidambaran]

What, is the solution?

[sowjanya india]

 Before thinking about solution, there is something called Solidarity . Solidarity to the issue. 

If we say to any IT fellow " come on bike, dont use cars or motorbikes.." then we will get this answer "Are you nuts" from many of them. 

THis steep hike is going to effect the livelihood of everyone. Now dont say to use bicycle for "Transport of goods" .That is not a solution. Think bigger picture. 

[Roopesh P Raj]

Subsidy to Tatas or Ambanis is surely absurd. Public expence in fuel,
education, health etc do not come any way near the corporate
subsidies, I guess(can someone shed some light).

Public subsidies is doing a great deal for the poor. In a country like
India, it would be a joke to suggest that the poor should wait for the
drops of development trickling down (which is now flowing up).

Can someone shed light on various subsidies - corporate, education,
health, fuel, military etc. and do a comparitive study of the same wrt
other countries? Are there any studies which on the current fuel
pricing (Whether it is fare or is it overpriced)? Every time fuel
price increases, it triggers a chain effect.

@Chidambaram Can you please post any articles etc. which alligns with
your point of view? That will be really useful.

Regards,
Roopesh

On 5/30/12, S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The absurdity is in the subsidy , not the hike.
>
> On Wednesday 30 May 2012 02:06 PM, Suresh Kodoor wrote:
>> In fact if there is one community which is most affected by the petrol
>> price hike, it must be the farmers!! This absurdly steep hike in
>> petrol price is one another big blow on farmers, who are already
>> realizing that there is no way to escape from this hell other than
>> taking their own life! And, you think petrol price hike has nothing to
>> do with farmer's suicide?!
>>
>> Petrol price affect only your vehicle budget (thus if you dont use
>> car, you escape from price hike) is too a simplistic view. There is
>> pretty much nothing that is not affected by the fuel price fluctuation.
>>
>> Suresh
>>
>>

>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com>
>> *To:* farmer-...@googlegroups.com
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:45 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Farmer Suicides] IT Employees Protest in Bangalore

>> Against Fuel Price Hike
>>
>> Are you nuts? What does this have to farmer suicides?
>> And why should IT employees protest a fuel hike? Let them stop using
>> their expensive cars. Go use the bus or learn to cycle.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Chiddu
>>
>> PS : Please let me know if there is a way to counter such ridiculous
>> petitions
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday 30 May 2012 09:30 AM, Nidhin Sasi wrote:
>>> A video of the protests conducted by ITEC on Saturday Against Fuel
>>> Price Hike, pls spread the video and online petition below among your
>>> group members, friends, colleagues.
>>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80bB8FuKqs&feature=youtu.be
>>> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80bB8FuKqs&feature=youtu.be>
>>>
>>> T/ITeS Employees protested against the steep fuel price hike of Rs.
>>> 7.54 which would cause adverse affects to all sections of people in
>>> the country. ITEC (IT/ITeS Employees organized protests in BTM and
>>> Koramangala.
>>>
>>> Please break your silence and join us.........
>>>

>>> *Also please sign this online petition and spread among your friends
>>> and colleagues -
>>> *http://www.change.org/petitions/it-employees-protest-against-fuel-price-hike-in-bangalore
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Suresh Kodoor]

When 140 rich elites together decided to buy high-end luxury imported car, Bank's decision to sanction them the loan at 10.5% is 'strategic investment' and when the same bank charge 14% for farmers loan it is 'risk hedging'! . Who is subsidizing whom?

Asking for kerosene at affordable price for the poor is 'asking for subsidy' and waiving off crores in tax for IPL teams is ?

Open our eyes and look around, we will realize who is subsidizing whom!

---

From: S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com>

To: Suresh Kodoor <suresh...@yahoo.com>
Cc: "farmer-...@googlegroups.com" <farmer-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 2:22 PM

Subject: Re: [Farmer Suicides] IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

[Suresh Kodoor]

In fact if there is one community which is most affected by the petrol price hike, it must be the farmers!! This absurdly steep hike in petrol price is one another big blow on farmers, who are already realizing that there is no way to escape from this hell other than taking their own life! And, you think petrol price hike has nothing to do with farmer's suicide?! 

Petrol price affect only your vehicle budget (thus if you dont use car, you escape from price hike) is too a simplistic view. There is pretty much nothing that is not affected by the fuel price fluctuation.

Suresh

---

From: S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com>
To: farmer-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Farmer Suicides] IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

[KRISHNAN VAIDYANATHAN]

One of the key driver for increase in traffic is purchase of vehicles by folks in  IT/ITEs sector. It is these sector folks who are averse to even car pooling let alone use of public transport or cycle.
 
Austerity begins at home - why dont IT/ITEs folks turn to car pooling and use more of public transport -  One should turn this event of protest to highlighting the benefits of car/vehicle pooling and use of public transport.
 
regards
Krishnan
 

---

Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 01:36:59 -0700
From: suresh...@yahoo.com

Subject: Re: [Farmer Suicides] IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

To: chi...@gmail.com; farmer-...@googlegroups.com

[Chidambaran Subramanian]

Glad to hear one sane voice here. I am pretty sure these IT folks are
not thinking about farmers when they are protesting the hike.

[haynes davis]

its good that annex on revenue foregone is added to budget for the last few years.. ie; looting is formal :)
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2012-13/statrevfor/annex12.pdf

again this doesnt contain many of the subsidies.. oh.. sorry... incentives given to corporates..

article by sainath on this is informative
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/article1514987.ece

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 3:34 PM, KRISHNAN VAIDYANATHAN <krish...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Subhankar Chakraborty]

Dear Mr. Chidambaran,

Not getting to the merit of the argument outright, I am not sure if you at all need to think about the farmers when you take on the streets against an unprecedented hike in petrol price. If you go to market regularly to buy vegetables, pulses, oil etc. you know for sure what it amounts to deregulated-petro-sector-induced-recurrent-hikes! Now, another diesel and kerosine hike is waiting in the pipeline (which will directly have a bigger impact on food price inflation).

But before going any further, I felt to share a feeling with you after reading this thread of discussion. At the heresy of been tagged as judgmental, I can't refrain myself from expressing my distaste in certain reckless usage ('are you nuts?' or 'these IT folks are not thinking about farmers...') in this group-mailing list. This is a common-mailing-list for many activists, professionals, academics, teachers and employees concerned/interested in agrarian issues. And not a personal id of the best of the buddies. I feel any potentially disparaging remarks that may hurt other members in this broad-based group, is always unwarranted.

I also disagree with putting all the IT employees in one box of socially-indifferent people; or targeting them when they align themselves with a demand that is socially, politically and economically relevant for the largest section of the mass. I am not from IT sector, but I have some friends who do eagerly and continuously engage themselves in several local and national issues that are not connected to their jobs. In fact, I remembered when we have organised a talk here in IISc by P Sainath within a day's time of this a farmer couple had committed suicide in Malavalli taluk in Mandya district. Some of 'these IT folks' who'd come for the talk in IISc were one of the first people to go there and tried to stand by the family in distress. This google group here has been started facilitating interactions among many people who'd come for the protest on this issue in Bangalore, conspicuous being several of the employees from IT sector. So, clearly this is not mutually exclusive if you work at IT sector, you can't protest against agrarian distress and farmer suicide; if you work at IT sector you are forbidden to voice against fuel price hike. Isn't it?

Best regards,
Subhankar.

--
_______________________________________________________________________
Subhankar Chakraborty

Tel : +91-9449045096 (Mobile)
Skype ID: subhankarchakravorty

[Nidhin]

Chidambaram,

Few points:-

1) 1st of of all you haven't read the petition or the ITEC Communique.
I request you to read those before coming to conclusions seeing the
subject alone.
No where it was mentioned that only IT Employees were affected or this
protest was only to raise IT Employees concerns. The following portion
of the communique says clearly that ITEC has udnertaken this protest
for all sections of society that will be affected by the society which
includes IT Employee, farmer, a constuction worker, student etc..
"The fuel price rise should be read along with the general trend in
the last budget of lessening the direct tax while increasing the
indirect tax which can be seen as a pro-rich step. Reduced direct tax
benefits the rich. The indirect tax falls equally on all and the poor
will have to shell out more in proportion to their income. The
subsidies given to the poor will be cancelled by these steps."
During the ITEC Film club screening, a skit was also conducted in
which affected people were represented by a farmer, a house wife, an
auto driver and a IT Employee.

2) As Subhankar mentioned, you cannot categorize IT Employees under 1
umbrella. There are IT Employees doing many socially relevant
activities in different groups in Bangalore and around the country
also. This forum itself was started under the initiative of IT
Employees and students (most of whom are future IT Employees).

3) A rise in petrol price and its cascading effect is a common
knowledge, it will increase the food price (since food needs to be
transported with vehicles using fuel and not cycles), transport price
which means with the same salary you have to pay mroe for the items
which is equal to effectively reduced salaries for everyone.

4) Also we need to understand and utilize the space of democracy, its
not just elections. Once a Govt is elected, it doesn't mean it will
represent people and implement policies like that, many times anti-
people polciies come up, and when different sections of people protest
against a particular policy that is when that Govt should be alerted
that the policy is not for people and they should change, a Govt
really represneting people in true sense might immediately change such
policies but a Govt acting to the tunes of different sections would
ignore it. So at such junctions what is required would be such public
demonstrations by different sections of people, for that people should
stand in unity for the causes.
Instead we have are fighting for such silly reasons whether IT
employees should use cycle or car, we are actually being ignorant. Yes
Car pooling, cycling, public transport are good and needed, no doubt
but that doesnt substitue such public demonstartions. Moreoevr public
transport is also directly affected due to fuel increase.

So at such situations, let us think broadly. Fuel price affects the
poorest most, if we say silly reasons and stay away, we are actually
supporting the anti-people Govt and not the Poor. So then who cares
for the poor, farmer? the ones who make justifications and blame these
protests or those who join such protests and make it stronger??


Thanks & Regards
Nidhin

On May 30, 11:15 am, S Chidambaran <chi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Are you nuts? What does this have to farmer suicides?
> And why should IT employees protest a fuel hike? Let them stop using
> their expensive cars. Go use the bus or learn to cycle.
>
> Regards,
> Chiddu
>
> PS : Please let me know if there is a way to counter such ridiculous
> petitions
>
> On Wednesday 30 May 2012 09:30 AM, Nidhin Sasi wrote:
>
>
>
> > A video of the protests conducted by ITEC on Saturday Against Fuel
> > Price Hike, pls spread the video and online petition below among your
> > group members, friends, colleagues.
>
> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80bB8FuKqs&feature=youtu.be
> > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B80bB8FuKqs&feature=youtu.be>
>
> > T/ITeS Employees protested against the steep fuel price hike of Rs.
> > 7.54 which would cause adverse affects to all sections of people in
> > the country. ITEC (IT/ITeS Employees organized protests in BTM and
> > Koramangala.
>
> > Please break your silence and join us.........
>

> > *Also please sign this online petition and spread among your friends
> > and colleagues -
> > *http://www.change.org/petitions/it-employees-protest-against-fuel-pri...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Mayank Rungta]

I would be with Chiddu on this - see inline -

3) A rise in petrol price and its cascading effect is a common
knowledge, it will increase the food price (since food needs to be
transported with vehicles using fuel and not cycles), transport price
which means with the same salary you have to pay mroe for the items
which is equal to effectively reduced salaries for everyone.

It is petrol price hike not diesel! Diesel deregulation is another thing altogether. Petrol price hike will affect private vehicle users not sure in a good way.

4) Also we need to understand and utilize the space of democracy, its
not just elections. Once a Govt is elected, it doesn't mean it will
represent people and implement policies like that, many times anti-
people polciies come up, and when different sections of people protest
against a particular policy that is when that Govt should be alerted
that the policy is not for people and they should change, a Govt
really represneting people in true sense might immediately change such
policies but a Govt acting to the tunes of different sections would
ignore it. So at such junctions what is required would be such public
demonstrations by different sections of people, for that people should
stand in unity for the causes.
Instead we have are fighting for such silly reasons whether IT
employees should use cycle or car, we are actually being ignorant.

That's an unfair assumption. Who is ignorant is very subjective!

 Yes
Car pooling, cycling, public transport are good and needed, no doubt
but that doesnt substitue such public demonstartions. Moreoevr public
transport is also directly affected due to fuel increase.

Nope - it is not diesel! I would like to understand better why prices go higher due to increase in petrol price and not diesel. If I am mistaken please correct me.

So at such situations, let us think broadly. Fuel price affects the
poorest most, if we say silly reasons and stay away, we are actually
supporting the anti-people Govt and not the Poor. So then who cares
for the poor, farmer? the ones who make justifications and blame these
protests or those who join such protests and make it stronger??

I am not sure how anti people this policy is? But 3 buses were burnt down today and that sure is anti people, anti govt and outrageous. A day of unproductivity hits the nation worse than working on solutions that don't depend so much on petrol. A lot of people on motor cycles are going around asking shops to be shut down - don't know where there petrol came from!!!

Are we in a position to handle a situation like Chennai at Bangalore - http://www.firstpost.com/india/chennai-a-metropolis-that-has-no-power-or-gas-324825.html

We should be working towards getting in that place rather than deferring the problems like we have always!

[Roopesh P Raj]

>>But 3 buses were burnt down today and that sure is anti people, anti govt and outrageous 

Dear Mayank,

The following dialogue is from the movie Great Debators,  http://youtu.be/e94yPrAX0Z0

James Farmer Jr.: "In Texas they lynch Negroes. My teammates and I saw a man strung up by his neck and set on fire. We drovehrough a lynch mob, pressed our faces against the floorboard. I looked at my teammates. I saw the fear in their eyes and, worse, the shame. What was this Negro's crime that he should be hung without trial in a dark forest filled with fog. Was he a thief? Was he a killer? Or just a Negro? Was he a sharecropper? A preacher? Were his children waiting up for him? And who are we to just lie there and do nothing. No matter what he did, the mob was the criminal. But the law did nothing. Just left us wondering, "Why?" My opponent says nothing that erodes the rule of law can be moral. But there is no rule of law in the Jim Crow south. Not when Negroes are denied housing. Turned away from schools, hospitals. And not when we are lynched. St Augustine said, "An unjust law in no law at all.' Which means I have a right, even a duty to resist. With violence or civil disobedience. You should pray I choose the latter." 

[Different context ofcourse. make policies that are anti-people (yes it is anti-people) and if the people stand up against it, then it becomes traffic blocks, violence, anti-people and all.]

Glimpses of life :

Location - A market :

One family of husband, wife and their two children comes out after a big shopping, husband started his old luna - a private vehicle - all the four sat tight and left. Luna does not run on diesel. Luna owners are not affluent. Scooter/luna still is a poor man's vehicle. Don't insist that the poor should travel in public buses with the logic that petrol price hike affects affluent classes. [Luna is more efficient than the fuel guzzlers of the IT crowd - private cars.]

The fact is that the affluent classes are not affected that much because of their affluence, but the low income families will be screwed up literally. The five member family would have to let their Luna rest (oh, that much of less wastage of fuel, isn't it?) , while the affluent classes continue their dash (those who can afford buys, as simple as that. any way if none are purchasing then the whole economy will come down;)).

Car/TV/Landphone used to be a social status symbol - now it is no more. Nano came as a good option for a low income family. The attempt to demarcate affluent petrol/versus poor man's diesel is to obfuscate the real issue. Price rise is to make petrol affordable only for the rich and to make it a unaffordable to the poor. 

Regards,

Roopesh

[Roopesh P Raj]

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 4:01 PM, Chidambaran Subramanian <chi...@gmail.com> wrote:

Glad to hear one sane voice here. I am pretty sure these IT folks are
not thinking about farmers when they are protesting the hike.

 

Dear Chidambaram Sir,  

Please participate in the debate going on, rather than making your presence felt.

Regards,

Roopesh

[Sudha Narasimhachar]

Not only farmers, the entire community is affected by this steep rise,
because it is going to affect the already sky-rocketing prices
adversely. IT professionals, businessmen and the middle class people
can continue living as comfortably as now by spending a few more
thousands. Maybe their savings and their expenditure on luxuries will
come down. But think about the millions of poor people, who live on
incomes as low as Rs.50-100/- per day! We talk of death of children
due to hunger and malnutrition. At this kind of inflation, how can
people afford to feed nutritious food to their children, while feeding
themselves too to at least live to take care of the children? If you
have watched the street boys and girls picking wasted food items from
the garbage dump and eating, with flies infested all over their
bodies, you will not think twice to protest such an inflation, which
is purely man-made!

Sudha Narasimhachar

[Mayank Rungta]

My question remains - How is a petrol hike affecting this and not a
_diesel_ hike? Kindly explain if I am missing something.

If they de-regulated diesel without sensitivity to issues that you talk
about I can understand but petrol hike?

[Mayank Rungta]

Roopesh,

Do you think those folks from BJP who did all this moving around and asking (read forcing) people to shut shops / their business (those very people whose livelihood we are worried about?) care for these people's needs?

As in the previous mail - my questions is what is the protest really against? Petrol hike which affects _middle_class_ people upwards (ignore the upwards) using petrol for their transport or regular people who are more dependent on diesel? If it is the people affected by this rise alone - what do you propose - keep the prices reduced and defer the problems?

I see the affect of petrol hike in my office - two colleagues have decided not to use their personal vehicle to come to office and use the Cab instead. Most of such agenda related to decrease of vehicular traffic is better done with policies curbing vehicles - congestion taxes, dual licensing, etc. I don't see that as an advantage of this petrol hike.

But it is high time people realized the value of fuel. Better now than later when it won't be expensive - it merely won't exist! In your example - are you really saving them by not increasing the price now?

If you are using your energy might as well influence higher taxes on SUVs and bigger cars - fuel guzzlers. Petrol hike is not a very good way to discourage that and we are all on the same plane on that I believe.

As for consumerism - whatever makes you think that we are for it. I have my set of gizmos but I am sure my lifestyle is much simpler (foot print wise) than a lot of people! :) And no it is not my biking that I am talking about...

--
MAnY thANKs
http://ngopost.org
http://rideacycle.org
https://gist.com/mayank
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vConnect-Blr/
Small Loans, Big Impacts. Invest in www.rangde.org today!
For a greener Bangalore - http://tiny.cc/blrtreeplanting

-- 
http://mynk.posterous.com/please-support-my-tcs-10k-run-supporting-asso
 o__
 _> /__
(_) \(_)... Burn fat not fuel - Byke along to a healthier lyfe and cleaner world! :)
            Join the club - http://bangalorebikersclub.com

[Suresh Kodoor]

Some data points.

1) On Tax:

    In case of petrol, the tax component is almost 50% of the retail price. For diesel (which is heavily subsidized as per govt claim) it is 30%. Majority of the tax revenue goes to the Central govt. In india the tax structure on oil products is completely skewed and complex. Below table is from the answer given in the parliament against a question in April-2011 when the petrol price was Rs.58

                                    Petrol    Diesel

    Fuel Component        30.22    25.11

    Taxes                        26.93    11.88  

         [Central taxes      17.22      7.44  (customs duty, excise duty)

           State taxes           9.73      4.44 ]

    Dealer commission      1.22      0.76

     

     Retail price:              58.37     37.75

2) Is petroleum industry a burden on govt exchequer through subsidies?

     Is the govt running a deficit w.r.t the petroleum sector by giving subsidies?  Looking at the economic data you would realise it is exactly the opposit!  Accordign to the study by Surya p Sethi, the former energy advisor to the planning commission, contribution of this sector way more than the subsidies. (Sethi, Surya P. “Analysing the Parikh Committee Report on Pricing of Petroleum Products”, EPW, Vol XLV, No 13, 27 March 2010)

During the year 2010-2011,  the contribution to the central government exchequer from the petroleum sector is reportedly Rs 1,36,000 crore and to the state governments about Rs 80,000 crore. The subsidy provided by the government including the oil bonds issued on the public sector oil marketing companies during the same period is Rs 40,000 crore, ie, 20 per cent of petroleum sector’s contribution in taxes and duties.

Regards

Suresh

---

From: Mayank Rungta <mr....@gmail.com>
To: nidhi...@gmail.com
Cc: Farmer Suicides <farmer-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 11:40 AM
Subject: Re: [Farmer Suicides] Re: IT Employees Protest in Bangalore Against Fuel Price Hike

[Mayank Rungta]

Thanks for this very informative mail! :)

Do we have the breakup of the new prices anywhere? It will be very interesting to know what part of the Rs 7.5 (or more as the price here is really old) - goes to the govt and how much to the oil companies.

If we have the latest information what needs to be done can be based on that.

If these numbers are to be believed then removing subsidy and taxes from diesel can reduce a lot of the nonsense, can it not?

--
MAnY thANKs
http://ngopost.org
http://rideacycle.org
https://gist.com/mayank
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vConnect-Blr/
Small Loans, Big Impacts. Invest in www.rangde.org today!
For a greener Bangalore - http://tiny.cc/blrtreeplanting

-- 
http://mynk.posterous.com/please-support-my-tcs-10k-run-supporting-asso
 o__
 _> /__
(_) \(_)... Burn fat not fuel - Byke along to a healthier lyfe and cleaner world! :)
            Join the club - http://bangalorebikersclub.com

[Subhankar Chakraborty]

Dear Mayank,

These recurrent hikes, including the recent one in petrol, is a direct reflection of the policy change by deregulating certain petroleum products - both petrol and diesel. By this critical shift, the government had done away of pricing and left it for the market aka oil marketing companies (OMCs) to decide on the pricing. Applied both to diesel and petrol. Following is the PIB notification.
http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=62834

Last November, when inflation was around 9.5% (http://www.theteamwork.com/articles/2016-2101-indian-government-current-monthly-annual-inflation-rate.html), and when the Planning Commission was contemplating if the BPL should be 29INR or 32INR slab, the Prime Minister came up saying forcefully (in G-20 summit and just after a hike then) that we need more deregulation! (http://www.newsbullet.in/india/34-more/20765-manmohan-advocates-further-deregulation-of-fuel-prices)

So, tell me why people from different walks - students, workers, farmers, employees, teachers, 'IT folks', doctors, men, women and third gender should not protest on the fallout of this deregulation?

Subho.

[Suresh Kodoor]

Mayank,

  All the components are as % of retail price. And the % remain same. So, if you put the latest retail price and calculate back, you will get the values for each component. 

  Yes, as you said, if you take out the tax component, the price straight away goes down by a big margin. So, we can see that subsidy is nothing but giving back a small percentage of what is collected as tax.

Thanks

Suresh

---

From: Mayank Rungta <mr....@gmail.com>

To: suresh...@yahoo.com
Cc: Farmer Suicides <farmer-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 7:38 PM

[Suresh Kodoor]

Here is another set of numbers that help us to understand the political economy of the oil pricing:

1. The actual production cost of the petrol is almost half of what is the retail price.

    Present price of Brent crude oil in the international market is around USD 107

    Indian basket of crude oil price =  $100   (usually there is 7% discount on brent crude)

    At current exchange rate of Rs.56 against a dollar, the price of a barrel of crude oil = Rs.5600  (in Aug 2008, this went upto Rs.5900)

     Typically 1 barrel of crude is around 150 litter of Petrol

      Total cost of converting crude to petrol (which includes transport of crude and refined products, cost of refining,fuel used by refinery, dealer commission, refinery margin)  is   $12  (ie Rs.672 per barrel)

     So the cost of producing 1 litter of petrol from crude is :   (Rs.5600 + Rs.672 ) / 150  = ~ Rs.42/ litter

 

    So, if the Oil companies sell petrol at Rs.42/-, they loss will be ZERO!  Current price is Rs.81/litter in Bangalore. Now we can decide if Oil companies are making loss!!!

The other irony is, every time Petrol price is hiked, Diesel price is calculated accordingly for the purpose of calculating the subsidy!!! Thus, without spending an extra penny, Govt can now show a larger amount going as 'subsidy' for diesel. The 'loss' and 'subsidy' are pure number games!!!

2. On your other question of How petrol price hike will impact poor? shouldn't only the diesel and kerosene price hike impact the poor.

     The impact of Diesel and Kerosene is direct on the poorer section where as petrol price hike impact is Indirect. On transport segment, vehicles which are used as livelihood by the lower sections (Autos & Taxis) are key consumers of Petrol. The other impacts are more in the macro economical level where the economic growth get affected (which can be addressed in detail in another post may be).

     Btw, the transport sector is not the only consumers of the petrol though. Here is the consumption pattern of fuel in India.

Transport (Petrol, Diesel, CNG, Aviation Fuel) : 51%
Industry (Petrol, Diesel, Fuel Oil, Naphtha, Natural Gas): 14%
Commercial & Others : 13%
Domestic (LPG & Kerosene): 18%
Agriculture (Diesel): 4%

   

Regards
Suresh

---

From: Mayank Rungta <mr....@gmail.com>

To: suresh...@yahoo.com
Cc: Farmer Suicides <farmer-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 7:38 PM

[Senthil S]

Hi friends, You may know that we at FSMK are running a community computing center at Wilson Garden. Students from lower middle class families attend these free software computer classes.Which enables them to get desktop skills.Based on their needs we also started English classes. Some science activity was also started. In general the fsmk office is opened to local community and is made useful for what they think makes sense. This time there was a lot of enthusiasm among teachers and students on transit of venus. The students felt there is a lot of taking to superstition, astrology , numerology etc and we should use this astronomy event to clarify myths about astrology. We will have two events a) One event at FSMK office tommorrow (Jun 3r sunday 3 p.m, fsmk office) where Dr. Sanjeev, ISRO scientist will guide us through experiments around transit of venus. We will also have a documentary screening. This should be fun for you and your family b) 6:30 am to 10:00 am at Lalbagh on June 6th  Hilltop we can also get goggles and watch the transit of venus safely. More details below. thanks Vignesh Software Engineer 9535321976 FSMK invites you to join us on watching Transit of Venus on June 6th from 6:30 am to 10:00 am at Lalbagh Hilltop. This is a public event and everyone is welcome to join us and enjoy this life time opportunity. The next transit of venus will happen only after 105 years. As a run-up event, FSMK is also conducting the screening of the documentary, Transit of Venus and Day sky watching, on Sunday 3:00 pm on June 3rd. This will be followed by a discussion on various experiments that can be conducted during the transit and Dr. Sanjeev, ISRO scientist will guide us through the experiments. Please do join us with your friends and family and enjoy this beautiful event of our solar system. FSMK is conducting the event with the motto "Learn Astronomy, Say no to Astrology." You can find the pamphlet for the program here, http://www.fsmk.org/sites/default/files/venus-transit-pamphlet.png Also please note that watching the sun directly with naked eye is harmful for your eyes. We have obtained goggles using which you can safely watch the transit. If you are not able to join us on 6th, you can come to FSMK office on 3rd June at 3:00 pm during the documentary screening and buy the goggles. Goggles cost Rs. 10 only and they have been prepared by Navnirmiti and certified for safely viewing the sun. Please do visit, http://www.fsmk.org/node/102 for getting more info related to the event. More info about Transit of Venus: What is the Transit of Venus(ToV): On the 6th June 2012, the planet venus will pass across the face of the Sun and this is called a Venus Transit. It is among that rarest of planetary alignments and only 7 of them have happened since the invention of the telescope. They happen after more than a century in a pair with 8 years in between them. The years of previous ones have been 1631 and 1639, then 1761 and 1769, followed by 1874 and 1882 and then finally 2004 which was the opener to a pair which will see the second event in 2012. Why ToV is an important event? The ToV is important because at the time of the ToV any school child can measure how far is the sun. Many great astronomers and scientists, including Isaac Newton, longed to see this event in their life time but could not. We are fortunate to have this event occurring in our life time. Its the last chance to see a rare astronomical event of this kind in this century. The next transit will happen and can be seen only after 105 years. Can we see the ToV? Yes, anyone and everyone can see it easily with a little preparation! You view it and encourage others to see it too! You can even to important experiments which are the first steps do knowing how big is the universe. -- Regards, Vignesh Software Engineer 9535321976

[Mayank Rungta]

Sorry for the delay on this one. I understand that diesel regulation is a sham. Petrol and Diesel both affect middle class people. Found a lot of links on it -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/110606-fuel-pricing-india-detailed-robbery-analysis-9.html

http://www.indiandefence.com/forums/social-political-issues/10989-why-petrol-prices-high-india.html

A more recent one -

http://www.thinkplaninvest.com/2012/05/mystery-of-petrol-price-hike/

But what scares me most is not many are worried about the bigger issue -

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/theres-no-tomorrow/

We are all headed towards a lot of trouble. I would worry more about this than concerns of a middle class family. We are all in for a lot of trouble.

--
MAnY thANKs
http://ngopost.org
http://rideacycle.org
https://gist.com/mayank
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vConnect-Blr/
Small Loans, Big Impacts. Invest in www.rangde.org today!
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-- 
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