Amid indications that the UPA government was all set to put in place a partial “free fuel pricing regime” to cut down the losses of oil marketing companies and end the “subsidy culture,” Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora is understood to have met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday to discuss the fuel price hike and other related issues. The meeting comes close on the heels of the one Mr. Deora had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Mr. Mukherjee, is scheduled to meet on Monday and discuss the oil price hike issue, including the Ketan Parik Committee report, which has recommended an across-the-board hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG cylinders and kerosene to put an end to the “bleeding of public sector oil companies.” It is learnt that both Ministers discussed the extent of “oil reforms” and products that could be covered under the free pricing policy sought to be introduced. The Finance Ministry has been pressing the Petroleum Ministry to take “bold steps” to unshackle the petroleum sector and bring the domestic prices of at least petrol and diesel on par with the movement in the international crude oil prices, which currently stand at around $72 per barrel. Both Ministers also discussed measures to protect consumers in case of high volatility in the crude oil prices. It is being discussed that a price band mechanism should be put in place to ensure that if crude oil prices crossed those levels, the government would intervene in both the public as well as private sectors to protect the common man.
No comments:
Post a Comment