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| Fuel price hike decision by May 31 | | | New Delhi | May 29
A decision on raising retail fuel prices and partly compensating revenue losses of oil firms will be taken by Saturday, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assessed the problems caused by the spike in crude prices.
"Hopefully, by day after tomorrow, we will have a solution," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters after a meeting with the Prime Minister and key ministers here.
A meeting of the Cabinet, which was to have taken up the matter today, has been postponed, he said.
Any hike in prices would be accompanied by a duty rejig to help state-run oil companies curtail revenue losses that are pegged at Rs 225,000 crore for this fiscal on account of crude prices touching a record level in the global market.
"The Prime Minister and Finance Minister saw papers of revenue losses and the price increase in the international market. They realised very much that we need to help (PSU oil companies) on a war-footing," Deora said.
Singh would also discuss the issue with Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Petroleum Minister said, adding that these decisions (price hike) were outside his jurisdiction.
The Petroleum Ministry has been pushing for a combination of duty cuts and price hike (Rs 10 per litre in petrol, Rs 5 a litre in diesel and Rs 50 per LPG cylinder) to bail out PSUs IOC, HPCL and BPCL that are on the verge of running out of cash in the next 2-3 months to import crude.
"Somethings have been agreed at today's meeting, but I cannot say what the Cabinet will decide," Deora said after the meeting that was attended by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Prime Minister's Principal Secretary T K Nair. |
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