New Delhi: After
weeks of deliberations, Petroleum Minister Murli
Deora on Wednesday announced that petrol prices
will be hiked by Rs 5 per litre while diesel prices
will be raised by Rs 3 per litre. The increase
in prices would be effective from midnight tonight.
The Government also said
that prices of LPG will be hiked by Rs 50. However,
there will be no increase in kerosene prices,
he added.
Speaking to CNN-IBN minutes
after the press conference, Deora justified the
Government's decision saying, "Forget about
rollback, we had no option but to take this step.
PM will explain to the nation on the need for
rise in prices. We should also remember that nowhere
in the world is kerosene available at Rs 9."
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh took a slew of measures to offset the surging
global oil prices that had put the national oil
companies under acute pressure.
As part of measures, the
Government decided to take a burden of Rs 94,601
crore for which it will issue oil bonds to state-run
BPCL, HPCL and IOC which were reporting a daily
loss of over Rs 720 crore.
In addition, the oil producing
PSUs like ONGC would shell out Rs 60,000 crore
through discounts to state-owned oil refiners
and marketing companies.
But despite all the measures,
there would still be a gap of Rs 29,000 crore,
Revenue Secretary P V Bhide said.
According to reports, oil
companies have been suffering huge losses to the
tune of Rs 225,000 crore per year.
Accessing the situation,
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night
will address the nation to explain the reasons
for the hike, a second since the year began.
Meanwhile, international
crude oil prices continue to fall. Crude oil futures
dipped below $127 a barrel on Tuesday, even as
many worry that supplies are barely meeting growing
global demand.
In the last 12 days, the
prices have fallen back sharply after climbing
above $135 a barrel on May 22.
Meanwhile, The Left will
hold nation-wide protests from Thursday and has
declared its intention of holding bandhs from
June 5-11.
