New Delhi, Sep.11 (ANI): Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) will meet this evening to discuss raising diesel, cooking gas and kerosene prices.
He, however, said it might be doubtful if a decision would be taken in just one meeting.
Reddy said he was not in a position to tell when the prices of the above items would be hiked, and added that if he had a choice or the authority to take a decision in the matter, he would have done it yesterday.
According media reports, a note has been forwarded to the members of the CCPA, which is headed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, detailing the crisis created by rise in crude oil prices and fall in value of rupee against the U.S. dollar.
If a decision is taken, diesel prices could go up from Rs.41 per litre to Rs.46 per litre, while the price of LPG could go up from Rs.399/cylinder to Rs.450 per cylinder, which in turn, could have a cascading cost effect on other essential services.
Public Sector Undertaking oil firms are losing a record Rs.560 crore per day on the sale of regulated diesel and cooking fuels, and another Rs.16 a day on petrol.
If the rates are not increased, the state-owned oil firms will be saddled with an unprecedented Rs.200, 000 crore revenue loss this fiscal.
Fuel retailers are losing a little less than Rs.5 per litre on sale of petrol, a commodity which was freed from government control in June 2010 but whose rates haven't moved in tandem with the cost.
They sell diesel at a loss of Rs.19.26 a litre, kerosene at Rs.34.34 per litre and domestic LPG at Rs.347 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
While diesel prices have not been revised since June last year, petrol rates were last hiked in July.
A decision on raising petrol price will be taken after the CCPA decision on diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene. (ANI+ inputs)
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