New Delhi, September 4
A steep hike in fuel prices is expected after the monsoon session of Parliament ends on September 7. The government is considering a hike in prices of petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene after Friday as the international crude oil prices are going up and the subsidy is hitting close to Rs 2 lakh crore which the government finds itself hard-pressed to fund.

A hike of Rs 4-5 in petrol prices, Rs 3-4 in diesel and Rs 50 per cylinder of cooking gas is the kind of increase being considered. An increase in prices of regulated prices has been contemplated on several occasions in the past one year but has not gone through.

Several important policy institutions like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) have asked the government to raise fuel prices. The other option that has been considered but is yet to be implemented is to target the subsidies using the ‘Aadhar’ card.