Deora advocates ten-fold hike in fuel subsidy

NEW DELHI, INDIA – Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, today made a case for a ten-fold hike in subsidy on LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene on the lines of the assistance provided to food and fertilizer sectors.

At a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, and PM’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan, he said oil companies bore a subsidy bill of Rs 10,245.47 crores on LPG, Rs 14,384.38 crores on kerosene, Rs 12,284.21 crores on diesel and Rs 2,680.41 crores on petrol, while the budget provided only Rs 2,900 crores as subsidy for PDS kerosene and domestic LPG.

Sources said Deora pointed to the budgetary provision of Rs 24,200 crores for food subsidy and Rs 17,252.90 crores for fertilizer and demanded that a similar dispensation should be given to oil sector to make it a transparent mechanism.

While the subsidy for the two domestic fuels has remained static at Rs 2,900 crores, the government had resorted to issuing oil bonds, like the Rs 11,500 crore bonds proposed in the current fiscal, to make up for losses.

The Hindu News