No hike yet in petro prices
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17
The Group of Ministers (GoM), which met today to decide over the prices of petrol and petroleum products has deferred the decision.

The GoM was constituted in November last year to suggest ways to soften the impact of the rising global crude oil prices on the government-owned oil marketing companies.

“It is difficult to take a decision on raising prices, it is more a political decision than a commercial decision especially at a time when elections are nearing,” said an oil ministry official.

Expressing concern over the steep rise in global crude oil prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said earlier that the government would examine on January 17 all options to cushion losses suffered by oil firms.

The Prime Minister, however, refused to say if the government would raise fuel prices so that oil-marketing companies are able to cut their losses, after oil prices topped $100 in the international market.

The government has so far issued bonds worth Rs.235 billion ($6 billion) to oil marketing companies in fiscal 2007-08 as its contribution under the subsidy-sharing formula.