Decision on fuel price hike likely on May 31

New Delhi, May 29 : Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murali Deora on Thursday said that the Government might take a decision on fuel price issue by Saturday.

He said this after a cabinet meeting presided over by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the price situation of petroleum products.

He said they have reached at some agreements but refused to give details.

Deora said that the presentations by the Petroleum Ministry were over and the matter would now go to the Cabinet or its sub-committee.

Earlier, a proposal by Deora to raise petrol price by Rs 10 a litre, diesel by Rs 5 per litre and that of LPG by Rs 50 per Kg had not gone down well with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government.

Deora again met Chidambaram on May 27 but could not convince him of the urgency to cut import and excise duties to avoid the Rs 2,00,000 crore revenue loss expected on petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene this fiscal.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) can buy crude oil only till July while Indian Oil can afford imports till September. The three firms face huge liquidity crisis as they fail to recover full value of the products sold.

ANI