Amidst the rumours, final verdict on the petrol price hike by Rs. 5 has arrived and has been on the side of Indian citizens. As confirmed by the Oil Minister, Jaipal Reddy, the decision to increase petrol prices has been kept on hold and the ministry will look upon the whole matter later.
The reason for surge was cited to be the incessant pressure by the state-run oil companies, which are continuously asking for a hike in diesel, kerosene, LPG and petrol prices, since they are incurring massive losses. Reportedly, the oil companies are facing a loss of around Rs. 2,00,000 crores and thus, measures are required to be taken in order to reduce this deficit. To overcome this issue, Reddy commented that some decisions will be taken by the ministry, which might be unfavourable for the public.
Oil Minister said that the fuel pricing in India has come up as a perfect case of “Politics defeating economics”. Reddy has already agreed upon the proposal of oil companies, but the final decision is yet to be delivered by the cabinet in its meeting, which will be scheduled somewhere in fourth week of September.
No matter when the petrol prices will witness a surge, at least for the time being, it is a period of relief for Indians; however, no comments can be made on how long this favourable time will last.
