New Delhi: The Government will raise the administered price of petrol and diesel in the next few days, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.
"We will consult the left and the Prime Minister. Please wait for two to three days. In diesel and petrol, some price increase has to be there," he said. He said the Government was keen to avoid a rise in the price of kerosene, used by the poor for lighting, and cooking gas.
On Monday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Government could not sustain the high level of energy subsidies and Deora said it would take a decision on raising fuel prices by the end of this month.
The Petroleum Ministry made out a strong case for increasing the fuel prices by up to Rs 10.43 a litre in petrol to save oil companies from a massive financial loss.
Government has not raised state-administered prices of petrol and diesel since September because of strong pressure from the Leftist allies. Petroleum ministry officials say the retail fuel prices are linked to crude oil prices of $51 a barrel, nearly $20 below the global price.
Government has been delaying the hike due to the Assembly elections in several states.
Meanwhile, the Left parties have made it clear that they are not in favour of a hike in fuel prices. Left is opposing Government's taxation policy saying that it should be revised other than price hike.
Oil firms are losing around Rs 10 per litre on the two fuels due to hardening global prices.
In the global oil market, after dipping below the mark, crude rose again on Iran standoff. It finally closed the day at .5 per barrel.
With inputs from ibnlive.com
Comments
0 comment