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| Bad Morning! Your petrol is dearer by Rs 4, diesel by Rs 2 | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 1: Ahead of a bad morning, the petrol pumps in the town this evening saw unprecedented long queues of vehicles rushing there to fill their tanks to full as television channels beamed the news of hike in petrol and diesel prices.
It was a last minute rush to save few bucks as hiked prices come into effect by the midnight. And the rush was not quite out of place as price went up substantially whooping by Rs 4 on petrol and Rs 2 on diesel. Interestingly many petrol pumps appeared reluctant in catering to the rush as the situation between them the consumers was quite inverse to each other.
Earlier the Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters at a hurriedly convened press conference in New Delhi that the new prices take effect from the midnight of Wednesday.
Addressing the press conference Petroleum Secretary announced that by not increasing the prices of LPG and kerosene the government will bear the total burden of Rs 30,000 crore.
"The under-recoveries (losses) have reached a level where it has become inevitable to revisit the prices," he said, adding the government will continue to monitor the global prices and take appropriate decisions.
Deora, along with his deputy Jitin Prasad, parried the question whether the prices would come down again if the same decreases at the international level.
Provisions would be made in the budget, to be presented on July six, to cover the loss on account of LPG and kerosene, Deora said.
He said that we have done enough for common people and in future also we would see what could be done for them.
The decision to increase the price was taken after Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.
The govt has been considering raising prices as petrol companies have been suffering heavy losses due to the rising price on crude in international market. Crude, which had sunk to $35 level earlier, is now hovering around $70 mark.
Deora said even in the case of petrol and diesel, oil-marketing companies will continue to incur a loss of Rs.2 per litre and Rs.1.62 on petrol and diesel, respectively, on account of selling these fuels below cost.
Earlier, Deora had favoured an increase in petrol prices. "Unfortunately the international crude oil prices have gone up. We are watching the situation," Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Murli Deora said.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia had given a balanced view saying that domestic petroleum prices should reflect world prices.
Noting that the country imports 70 per cent of its crude oil requirement, Ahluwalia said, "I don't think it is sustainable to delink domestic prices from import costs.
The raise comes a day before the Budget session of Parliament begins.
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