Any reduction in petrol prices has been ruled out by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S Jaipal Reddy. The minister stated that it is not possible to reduce prices especially when oil marketing companies are suffering huge losses due to fluctuations in the prices of crude in the international market. The losses are estimated to be around Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
Reddy said, there is constant pressure from the public and political parties to not to hike diesel, kerosene and LPG prices, but that isn’t feasible given the crisis in Iran and Arab countries, the economic slowdown in European countries and the hiked dollar exchange rate, making global crude oil expensive. Hence, there is no option other than increasing the prices on par with those in the international markets.
Admitting that the hike in fuel prices will have to be eventually borne by the common man, the minister said that elections cannot be used as an excuse by politicians to keep the costs subsidized. Reddy stated that if elections were the criteria to not raise prices, then fuel prices could never be hiked as India being the world's biggest democratic country, is faced with elections every year.
Petrol prices in India were liberalized a year ago and have climbed as international oil prices have risen. The government still subsidizes retail prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.
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