Petrol may be spared price hike
New Delhi: Indications are that the government, which has been seriously evaluating the options of price increase on petroleum products following the global price rise, may spare petrol from the price increase.

According to reports, the petroleum ministry is planning to increase prices of high-speed diesel by Rs 3 a litre, kerosene by Rs 3.50 a litre and LPG by Rs 50-60 a cylinder to mop up around Rs 6,000 crore during the current fiscal. A marginal increase in the prices of aviation turbine fuel is also on the cards since the government wants to remove subsidy on it which has crept in because of the spurt in international prices of oil in the past two months.

Official sources say that the government wants to come down heavily on PDS kerosene since the huge subsidy does not reach the target public and the product is being increasingly used to adulterate HSD because of the huge price differential.

The government is hoping that the price-hike, along with duty rationalisation on petroleum products and issue of bonds to oil companies against their arrears to the government, will contain the oil pool deficit to Rs 6,000 crore at the end of the current fiscal. The deficit would stand at Rs 23,600 crore deficit in case the prices were not revised.
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