Rupee depreciation increases fuel subsidy by Rs 50,000 crore: Oil Secretary

13 Dec 2011 Evaluate

The depreciation of Indian rupee against American dollar has increased the fuel subsidy by Rs 50,000 crore as country has to pay more for its oil imports.  The Oil Secretary G C Chaturvedi said 'Every time the rupee depreciates by Re one against the US dollar, Rs 8,000 crore is added to the fuel subsidy bill. The rupee has depreciated from Rs 46 to a US dollar to roughly Rs 52 per US dollar, thereby adding Rs 50,000 crore (to the subsidy).'

The government owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) are estimated to lose a record Rs 137,605 crore this financial year on selling diesel, kerosene and domestic cooking gas at the government controlled rates.  This huge revenue loss by the OMCs will have significant impact on the government’s fiscal deficit target for the current financial year. 'The government has to look at means of meeting this deficit,' Chaturvedi said.

The Oil Secretary also denied dual pricing of diesel under which users like mobile telephone towers and electricity generators would had to shell out rates higher than the current subsidized rate for the fuel, saying the proposal is not practical to implement. 'We will not be able to administer it and will lead to lot of hurdles,' he added.

Diesel is the most consumed fuel in India however, in order to protect common man from international commodity price volatility it is sold at subsidized rates. Diesel is mostly used for transport sector, both trucks and passenger buses, and it also used by farmers in irrigation pumps and other agriculture equipments. However, the subsidized fuel is used in luxury cars; SUVs, so do power generators at malls and telecom towers. But deregulating diesel and LPG are not politically feasible for this coalition led government. In June 2010, the government has decontrolled petrol prices, however, it has kept its control on diesel prices, as any change in the diesel prices will have significant impact on the inflation, which is already hovering above 9%.

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