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Our Bureau

`Ministry working on several alternatives to meet everyone's requirements'

New Delhi , May 9

With the Left parties flatly refusing to endorse any price hike on the four petroleum products - cooking gas (LPG), kerosene, petrol, and diesel - the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, seems to have a tough task on his hands.

After a meeting with the Petroleum Minister on Tuesday on the issue, the CPI leader, Mr Gurudas Dasgupta, said: "We are opposed to any price hike."

Speaking to newspersons, he said: "An increase in prices will immediately have an impact on the economy. It will result in an increase in transportation costs and have an inflationary impact."

Mr Dasgupta also said that the Government should cut Customs and excise duties on crude oil and products to offset the impact of rising oil prices.

Mr Deora, who himself does not favour an increasing in prices of cooking gas and kerosene, is to interact with other Left leaders such as Mr Sitaram Yechury and Mr Dipankar Mukherjee on Wednesday on the issue.

Mr Deora said that his Ministry was working on several alternatives to meet the requirements of Parliament, allies, and the party.

He reiterated that an equitable distribution of burden for offsetting the impact of rising crude prices was required, as the consumer alone cannot bear the whole strain.

The Petroleum Ministry is studying the Dr C. Rangarajan Committee report on petroleum product pricing.

Since the scheduled meeting between the Petroleum Secretary, Mr M.S. Srinivasan, and the Finance Secretary, Mr Adarsh Kishore, was deferred on Tuesday, a Secretarial-level meeting between the two Ministries is expected soon.

The Petroleum Ministry is expected to seek a cut in import and excise duties and rising of subsidies on cooking gas as measures to help oil firms.

The non-revision of retail prices of petroleum products by the Government is expected to lead to under-recoveries of an estimated Rs 72,000-75,000 crore by oil marketing companies in 2006-07.

The BPCL Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Ashok Sinha, said that his company would incur a net loss in the first quarter this fiscal if oil product prices are not raised.

The oil marketing companies expect a loss of Rs 160 crore per day, with BPCL losses amounting to Rs 40 crore.

The company has been losing Rs 8 per litre on petrol, Rs 10 on diesel, Rs 14 on kerosene, and Rs 140 per cylinder on cooking gas.

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