Petro prices may not go up
New Delhi: The government is not likely to increase the prices of petrol
and diesel before the Union budget, according to petroleum and natural gas minister Ram
Naik. Mr Naik says the government has accrued about Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 crore as customs
duty on petroleum imports in fiscal 1999-2000 because of the global increase in petroleum
product prices. The minsitry has asked the finance ministry for the use of this amount, Mr
Naik said.Mr Naik said that as per the earlier formula, petroleum prices were to
be revised every two months to take care of the oil pool deficit. However, as price
increase leads to increase in import duty, he said he has suggested to the finance
minsiter that the oil pool deficit may be reduced by allocating Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 crore
available from the import duty.
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