Indian government set to review fuel prices

Indian government set to review fuel prices

Elections are coming up in several states in India and the Indian government has decided that they are considering revising the fuel prices.

Indian Petroleum secretary RS Pandey said in a statement that the government would review retail prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas on December 1.

They would then send their report to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Pandey said: “The Petroleum Ministry can’t decide alone. It will be a collective decision of the government to revise retail prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene sold though public distribution system and domestic liquefied natural gas. I can’t anticipate what the CCEA would decide.”

Petroleum minister Murli Deora had this to say: “The three public sector companies have suffered a net loss of over Rs 14,000 crore in the first-half of the current fiscal. Even after factoring the current global crude oil prices, total under-recoveries of the oil companies are estimated at around Rs 1,10,000 crore for 2008-09 at the current prices of crude oil. Besides, appreciation of rupee against dollar has made import of crude costlier for PSU refineries. The Cabinet will consider all these factors before coming to a conclusion.”