EGOM meet to decide on raising diesel, LPG prices next week

Kolkata, May 15 (PTI) A day after oil firms hiked
petrol rates by a steep Rs 5 per litre, Indian Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday said a ministerial panel will
decide on raising diesel, LPG and kerosene prices next week.
An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by
Finance Minister is likely to deliberate on oil ministry's
demand for a minimum Rs 4 a litre hike in diesel price and Rs
25 per cylinder increase in LPG rates to partly bridge the
gulf between domestic prices and their international cost.
"A decision will be taken on raising prices of these
items when the EGoM meets next week," Mukherjee told reporters
here after meeting Congress MLAs (Member of the Legislative
Assembly) elected in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal
Assembly elections.
He, however, neither gave the date of the EGoM meeting
nor the quantum of hike the panel may consider.
EGoM was originally scheduled to meet on May 11, a day
after polling in West Bengal ended but the panel meeting was
postponed and no new dates have been intimated yet.
Oil companies are losing Rs 18.19 on sale of every
litre of diesel at current price of Rs 37.75 per litre in
Delhi.
Besides, state oil firms lose Rs 29.69 a litre on
kerosene and Rs 329.73 per 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder.
On the biggest ever hike in petrol prices, Mukherjee
said the decision was taken by the oil companies as the
government had deregulated petrol pricing in June last year.
Though Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan
Petroleum had been given freedom to decide on retail selling
price of petrol, they informally consulted oil ministry on
every revision.
The three had not revised rates since January as five
crucial states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
went to polls.
A day after state assembly results, the firms hiked
petrol price by Rs 5 per litre which was less than half of Rs
10.50 a litre increase need to cover for cost of crude oil
which had touched a two-and-half year high of USD 110 per
barrel.
"Decision on petrol prices is taken by oil marketing
companies," Mukherjee said. "For other petroleum products like
diesel, LPG and kerosene there is the EGoM."
The Finance Minister said crude oil was ruling at USD
68 per barrel when diesel, LPG and kerosene rates were last
revised in June 2010. Crude is now above USD 110 a barrel