Govt not planning to deregulate prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene

22 Aug 2012 Evaluate

Pouring cold water to the much sought demand, the Minister of State in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, R.P.N. Singh said to the upper house that the government has no immediate plans to deregulate the prices of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene sold under public distribution system (PDS).

The government is providing a subsidy of Re 0.82 a litre on PDS kerosene and Rs 22.58 a litre on 14.2 kg per cylinder on domestic LPG from the fiscal budget under the ‘PDS Kerosene and Domestic LPG Subsidy Scheme, 2002’.While, PSU oil marketing companies bear rest of the burden, they are losing Rs 15.55 a litre on diesel, Rs 29.97 a litre on kerosene and Rs 231 on every 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.

Rising fiscal deficit has not only been termed alarming but disturbing as well by the different government and regulatory agencies. The central government’s fiscal deficit in FY13 is expected to be much higher than the budget estimate of 5.1% of GDP.

Even C Rangarajan, chief of PM's Economic Advisory Council, recently said that he expect the government to raise diesel and cooking gas prices shortly, saying that the move would essentially be aimed at averting a possible downgrade by international rating agencies by signaling the government's intent to address the problem of rising subsidy bill and fiscal deficit.

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