Sources said no timeframe has been decided for the meeting of the empowered group of ministers headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
A meeting of an empowered group of ministers (EGoM), scheduled for this month-end, to consider raising prices of diesel and domestic LPG has been deferred, official sources said today.
Sources said no timeframe has been decided for the meeting of the EGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The EGoM was originally scheduled to meet on December 15 but it was deferred to December-end due to non availability of certain ministers in the grouping.
Oil ministry officials are of the view that diesel and LPG prices need to be raised in view of the surge in international oil prices.
It was expected that the EGoM may consider a Rs2 per litre hike in diesel prices to narrow the difference between the domestic retail price of the transport fuel and its imported cost.
"The under-recovery (or the revenue oil companies lose) on diesel stands at around Rs6.08 per litre," a source said.
Besides diesel, the oil firms lose as much as Rs17.72 per litre on PDS kerosene sales and nearly Rs272.19 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.
The necessity of a price increase has arisen because of a rally in global crude oil prices. Crude was quoting $91.38 in Asian trade today from $73-74 at the time of last revision in June.
In early December, oil marketing companies had hiked petrol prices by Rs2.94-2.96 a litre, but it was still Rs1.2-1.25 a litre lesser than the imported cost.
The government had in June this year freed petrol prices, but the state firms, who control 98% of the retail market, continue to informally consult the oil ministry before revising prices.
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