After LPG, CNG and piped cooking gas price hiked
New Delhi(PTI): After hike in rates of petrol, diesel and LPG, the prices of CNG and cooking gas piped to household kitchens (PNG) in the national capital were hiked on Thursday by Re 1.
CNG price in NCT of Delhi has been increased to Rs 59.01 per kg from Rs 58.01, according to the information posted on the website of Indraprastha Gas Ltd - the firm which retails CNG and piped cooking gas in the national capital.
This is the third increase in CNG rates this month, which follows a spike in input (natural gas) prices across the globe. On the previous two occasions, rates had gone up by Rs 0.50 per kg.
Following the firming up of international gas rates, IGL has been raising CNG rates periodically. Prices have gone up by about Rs 5.50 per kg this year alone.
Also, the price of piped natural gas that households get for cooking purposes has also been increased by Re 1 to Rs 36.61 per standard cubic meter in Delhi.
The increase follows Rs 1.60 per litre hike in petrol and diesel prices affected during the last two days and a Rs 50 per cylinder raise in the cooking gas LPG rates.
After rising by 80 paise per litre on March 22 and 23, petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on Thursday, possibly because of the heat the government faced on the issue in Parliament on the two previous days.
In Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, CNG will cost Rs 61.58 per kg and in Gurugram the price is at Rs 67.37 per kg.
Similarly, PNG cost has increased to Rs 35.86 per SCM in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad and to Rs 34.81 in Gurugram.
Prices vary from city to city depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT.
A record 137-day hiatus in petrol and diesel price revision ended on March 22, with an 80 paise per litre increase in rates and a similar proportion hike followed on Wednesday.
On March 22, the price of a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder was increased to Rs 949.50 in the national capital. In some places, the LPG price has touched Rs 1,000.
Prices had been on a freeze since November 4, ahead of the assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab - a period during which the cost of raw material (crude oil) soared by USD 30 per barrel.
The rate revision was expected soon after assembly elections ended on March 10, but it was put off.
Oil companies are now recouping the losses.
They "will need to raise diesel prices by Rs 13.1-24.9 per litre and Rs 10.6-22.3 a litre on gasoline (petrol) at an underlying crude price of USD 100-120 per barrel," Kotak Institutional Equities said in a note.
According to CRISIL Research, the price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) has averaged USD 100 per barrel in the current quarter and a full pass-through would require a Rs 9-12 per litre increase in the retail prices. And if the average crude oil price rises to USD 110-120, the hike required would be Rs 15-20 per litre.
India is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs and so retail rates adjust accordingly to a global movement.
The issue of price rise figured in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, with opposition protesting the additional burden on common man already reeling under the pressure of high inflation and commodity price rise. The opposition forced adjournments in Rajya Sabha while they walked out of Lok Sabha on the issue.
With no increase in petrol and diesel prices on Thursday, both Houses of Parliament functioned normally.
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India's ranking drops to 85th in Henley Passport Index, Singapore tops global list
New Delhi (PTI): India's ranking has dropped by five points to 85 this year in a global passport index, topped by Singapore for the second consecutive year.
The data draws from Henley Passport Index released by citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners on Wednesday.
"With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations," according to its website.
The index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum, it said.
As per the index for 2025, India stands at 85th while the ranking of Pakistan and Bangladesh stood at 103rd (101st in 2024) and 100th (97th in 2024), respectively.
India's ranking in the Henley Passport Index for 2024 was 80th globally.
According to a data chart available on the firm's website, for the range of years from 2006-2025, India's rank was the lowest at 90th in 2021, while its best score was in 2006 when the country was ranked 71st.
For the US, the ranking for 2025 was 9th, down from 7th in 2024, while China's ranking rose to 60th from 62nd in 2024.
Japan's ranking stood at 2nd this year, while it had the top slot from 2018-2023. In 2024, both Japan and Singapore shared the top rank.
According to a statement issued by the firm, only 22 of the world's 199 passports have fallen down the Henley Passport Index ranking over the past decade.
"Surprisingly, the US is the second-biggest faller between 2015 and 2025 after Venezuela, plummeting seven places from 2nd to its current 9th position. Vanuatu is the third-biggest faller, losing six places from 48th to 54th position, followed by the British passport, which was top of the index in 2015 but now sits in 5th place. Completing the top 5 losers list is Canada, which dropped three ranks over the past decade from 4th to its current 7th place," the statement said.
In contrast, China is among the biggest climbers over the past decade, ascending from 94th place in 2015 to 60th in 2025, with its visa-free score increasing by 40 destinations in that time, it said.
The US nationals currently constitute the single largest cohort of applicants for alternative residence and citizenship, accounting for a staggering 21 per cent of all investment migration programme applications received by Henley & Partners in 2024, the statement said.
The firm has more American clients than the next four biggest nationalities -- Turkish, Filipino, Indian and Brits -- combined, CEO Juerg Steffen was quoted as saying in the statement.
"Faced with unprecedented volatility, investors and wealthy families are adopting a strategy of geopolitical arbitrage to acquire additional residence and/or citizenship options to hedge against jurisdictional risk and leverage the differences in legal, economic, political and social conditions across countries to optimise their personal, financial and lifestyle outcomes," he said.
