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Coming down hard on Opposition-ruled states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said some states did not reduce VAT on petrol and diesel despite the excise duty cut by the Centre last November and had done "injustice" to the people by not transferring the benefits of the move to them.

Speaking at an interaction with chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country, Modi said he wanted to flag a separate issue of the challenges being faced by the people due to the global situation.

"The situation of war which has arisen, has affected the supply chain, and in such an environment, the challenges are increasing day by day," Modi said in an apparent reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"This global crisis is bringing many challenges. In such a situation, it has become imperative to further enhance the spirit of cooperative federalism and coordination between the Centre and states," he said.

Flagging the issue of high prices of petrol and diesel, Modi said the Centre had reduced excise duty to reduce the burden of prices of petrol and diesel on the people last November.

He said the Centre had urged states to reduce taxes and transfer the benefit to the citizens.

"Some states reduced taxes but some states did not give any benefit of this to the people. Due to this, the prices of petrol and diesel in these states continue to remain high. In a way, this is not only injustice to the people of these states but it also has an impact on neighbouring states," he said.

Many states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu for some reason or the other did not listen to the central government and the citizens of those states continued to be burdened, he said.

"I request that what should have been done in November, you should pass on the benefit to the citizens by reducing VAT," Modi said.

Also Read:- India's retail industry to reach $2 trillion by 2032: Report

As the country recovers from the pandemic, the retail industry has resumed its growth trajectory and is likely to witness 10 per cent annual growth to reach approximately $2 trillion by 2032, according to a report.

According to a BCG-RAI report titled "Racing towards the next wave of Retail in India”, while certain industry segments like food and grocery, restaurants and Quick service restaurant (QSR), and consumer durables have recovered to pre-COVID levels, others like jewellery and accessory, apparel, and footwear remain on track to a full recovery.

"The Indian economy continues to be driven by consumption and we are observing that consumption growth is back in the positive territory after the two-year COVID pause,” BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner Abheek Singhi said.

Noting that India’s retail industry will grow to approx $2 trillion in the next 10 years, Singhi said "the next decade will see organised retailers focus on footprint expansion, across all formats – offline and online – to fuel future growth”.

As per the report India’s consumption, which was growing at approximately 12 per cent pre-pandemic, went into negative territory during the pandemic but has now recovered to surpass pre-pandemic growth levels at 17 per cent.

E-commerce in the country is expected to reach $130 billion by 2026, as compared to $45 billion in 2021, according to the report.

"The rising competition and the need for constantly improving the customer value proposition is driving the rise of ecosystems and the customers are approached by players across retail and non-retail. We are seeing examples of this trend already in India and is expected to significantly transform the entire landscape in the future,” added Rachit Mathur, Managing Director and Partner, Consumer & Retail Practice, BCG.

The report is an in-depth study of retail players in the country, identifying challenges in the prevailing environment and highlighting emerging trends and models that can potentially shape the future of retail.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) became the first Indian listed company to touch the Rs 19-trillion market capitalisation-mark after its shares scaled a record high. The stock hit a new high of Rs 2,827.10, up 2 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market.

According to the BSE data, RIL m-cap stood at Rs 19.02 trillion at 09:33 AM, with the stock up 1.3 per cent at Rs 2,811.85. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.61 per cent at 56,977.

In the past seven trading days, the stock price of RIL has appreciated by 11 per cent from a level of Rs 2,544 on April 18, 2022. In the past three months, the stock has rallied 20 per cent, as compared to 0.42 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

"Reliance industries is firing on all cylinders because its petchem business is doing extremely well on the back of a surge in Oil and Gas prices where Singapore gross refining margin (GRM) is at an all-time high. Its telecom business is unaffected by geopolitical tension and inflation whereas it is exploring synergies in its retail business. It is continuously expanding its path in the renewable energy business that opening more opportunities for the company," said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart.

RIL is one of India's biggest conglomerates with a presence in refining or marketing petrochemicals (O2C), oil and gas exploration, retail, digital services and media, making it a well-diversified business entity. In April-December period (9MFY22), O2C and oil and gas contributed 50 per cent to the EBITDA level whereas retail, digital and others contributed 10 per cent, 34 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

RIL and Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company RSC (TA’ZIZ) on Tuesday signed a shareholder agreement for a chemical project in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. The development acquires significance as it will focus on chlor-alkali, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production, which is used in a wide range of industrial applications.

This is expected to unlock new revenue streams for RIL as well as the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, who are strategic partners in TA’ZIZ, a joint venture company. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

Call it poor judgment or bad luck, but India’s expansion of natural gas coverage to more than 90 percent of its population couldn’t have come at a worse time. In January, Adani Total Gas Ltd. and others won keenly-contested licenses to add new areas to city gas networks; in February, Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Suddenly, billions of dollars in investment are on shaky ground.

After an extraordinary surge last month, European spot prices of natural gas are stabilising — at three times the average of the past decade. Contracted supplies of liquefied natural gas are cheaper, but with Europe scrambling to secure non-Russian fuel, the discount is shrinking, according to a Bloomberg News report last week. Worse still, it’s unlikely to be a blip: Credit Suisse Group AG predicts that the Russian gas deficit will lead to an annual global LNG shortage of nearly 100 million tons by the middle of the decade.

This isn’t what New Delhi anticipated when it decided to raise the share of natural gas in India’s energy mix to 15 percent by 2030 from under 7 percent now, as part of a plan to improve air quality. India had nine of the world’s 10 most polluted cities in 2020. Natural gas doesn’t eliminate carbon emissions, but it’s an improvement over diesel. It’s something to hold the fort until better options — such as green hydrogen — become affordable for emerging markets.

The environment, however, isn’t the only reason Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a massive push to city gas projects. The move also has political significance. Piped natural gas (PNG) delivered to urban homes relieves the demand pressure on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. Those can then be pushed to rural areas where the government has helped poor families open 90 million new LPG accounts to help them migrate from burning wood, coal, dung-cake or kerosene to using cleaner cooking gas. The campaign buttressed Modi’s popularity with women voters, which is why the 2016 programme saw a jump in enrolment before his successful 2019 re-election bid.

But the economics of PNG — and compressed natural gas (CNG) supplied to motorists as an alternative to gasoline and diesel — is wobbly. State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India Ltd. produce gas domestically, as does Reliance Industries Ltd. in partnership with BP Plc. Under a complex pricing formula, this output is allocated to city gas and fertiliser firms, the two biggest users, as well as power stations and LPG plants.

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