After petrol, a price hike in LPG?

After petrol, a price hike in LPG?

Tempers rise after petrol price hike, protests today

The government's decision to hike petrol prices by Rs 3.14 per litre has drawn criticism from both the opposition and the allies. While opposition BJP has demanded a rollback of the increase in price of petrol, the Left parties have termed the Congress-led UPA as callous. "BJP condemns this hike in petrol prices by Rs 3 per litre. We demand a rollback as this measure is against the common man. The UPA allies of Congress should also oppose this hike," party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said that the repeated increase in petrol prices shows how callous the UPA government has become. The current inflation rate has nearly touched double digit. At such a time this hike will only add to the burdens of the people, he added.

Slamming the Centre decision, Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa has also demanded its immediate rollback as it would badly hit the common man.

UPA partner in government the Trinamool Congress has also expressed its angish over the rise alleging that it was kept in the dark about the decision.

Trinamool general secretary and union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy on Thursday called up finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to express the party's annoyance over the matter. "We are unhappy over the way the petrol prices were raised. Despite being a partner in the central government, we were not consulted. We don't know anything about the decision," Roy told reporters.

However, the Congress has termed the hike as "inevitable". "It is obviously something, which we all have to bear with a heavy heart but it appears that it is inevitable," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP has called for statewide agitation today in protest against the hike of price of petrol. State BJP president Surya Pratap Sahi condemning the decision of the petroleum companies to hike the price of petrol by Rs three per litre has called for agitation at all district headquarters today.

The party workers would burn the effigy of the Centre and demonstrate to demand immediate withdrawal of the hike. Mr Sahi said the youths would be most affected due to this hike and it would certainly have a bad impact on the middle class families of the country.



New Delhi An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to consider today on limiting supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to 4-6 per household in a year.
With a view to limit government's fuel subsidy bill, the EGoM is likely to consider giving every household only 4-6 LPG cylinders at subsidised price of Rs 395.35 in Delhi and asking them to pay market price of Rs 666 per bottle for any requirement beyond that.

Limiting supply of subsidised LPG cylinder is likely to save the government about Rs 20,000 crore in subsidy outgo annually.

The limited supply of subsidised LPG would be for those who own a car, two-wheeler, house or figure in the income-tax list, the official said.

Each 14.2-kg bottle of LPG normally lasts a household 45-60 days and based on this calculation a maximum of six cylinders are considered enough to see a family through the year.

At present, records of LPG distributors of public sector companies shows that a vast number of households are taking as many as 20 to 30 cylinders per household each year.

This suggests that large-scale diversion of subsidised cooking gas is taking place for use in commercial establishments, such as restaurants and dhabas and as auto fuel.

LPG for commercial use is sold at the market price and packed in different cylinders. Sources said limiting supply of subsidised LPG cylinders would help cut down losses that state-owned oil firms incur now on selling the fuel at government controlled rates.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lose about Rs 63 crore per day on selling domestic LPG below cost.

The EGoM may also consider the revenue loss that state firms incur on selling not just LPG but also diesel and kerosene.

The three firms lose Rs 5.14 a litre on diesel and Rs 24.42 per litre on kerosene. At current rate, they are projected to post a combined revenue loss of Rs 108,746 crore in the current fiscal.

The EGoM, sources said, may decide on how this loss would be bridged.

The government oil companies on Thursday hiked petrol price by Rs 3.14-3.32 per litre after decline in rupee's exchange value increased the cost of buying crude oil and widened losses from fuel sales.

Petrol price in Delhi has been hiked by Rs 3.14 a litre to Rs 66.84 per litre with effect from midnight tonight, a press statement issued by Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.