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Mumbai:
The government is studying various options, including
a marginal hike in the prices of auto fuels like petrol
and diesel, and a possible duty cut to ease the burden
of high crude prices on state-run oil companies.
"We will
do all that is possible to protect the interests of our
PSUs," petroleum minister Murli Deora said after
a brief meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Deora said
the issue could not be discussed at length due to paucity
of time and a separate meeting may have to be convened
next week to discuss the matter.
"A decision
may take two-three days," he said, but did not rule
out the possibility of a price hike. "I cannot say
that prices will not be increased."
A cabinet
meeting on October 11 decided on sharing the burden of
Rs54,935 crore arising from not raising petrol, diesel,
LPG and kerosene prices between the government and PSUs.
The
Indian basket of crude was averaging $68-69 a barrel then.
It has now shot up to over $85 per barrel, widening the
revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan
Petroleum by nearly Rs7,000 crore.
Global
crude prices have surged close to $100 a barrel
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