Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said the government should dismantle the administered pricing of fuel, as it would keep prices low even when commodity prices start rising.

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: The Union government has put in motion the process of effecting a possible fuel price hike, with the Cabinet scheduled to discuss the issue on Thursday.

New Delhi: The oil ministry will make a strong pitch to unshackle petrol prices from government control and introduce a differential pricing mechanism, along with a small price increase of Re 1 a litre for diesel, when the Cabinet meets on Thursday.

In case it goes through, the proposal for deregulation will mean a jump of Rs 4.71 in the price of a litre of petrol.

A recent news story on the just-released Kirit Parikh committee report on pricing of petroleum products had a headline suggesting that

It is not surprising that the expert panel headed by Kirit Parikh on the pricing of petroleum products should recommend total decontrol of the retail prices of petrol and diesel while suggesting a more gradual approach in the case of kerosene and LPG. In July-August 2008, the B.K.

The planning commission on Friday claimed that decontrolling fossil fuel prices would help tame inflation, deflating the contrary general perception, The Commission panel's deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: "It (decontrolling fuel price) will not flare up the inflation. I just think that it is not sustainable to have pricing, which are not in line with the world prices."

Diesel cars may become costlier by Rs 1.8 lakh.

Currently, one of the main reasons for the high popularity of diesel cars is that the fuel is cheaper, which translates into low running costs.

Roudra Bhattacharya

New Delhi, Feb. 5

THE Trinamool Congress and DMK on Thursday opposed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Proposal will bring down the burden of oil companies

Kirit Parikh The Kirit Parikh committee has recommended market-determined pricing for petrol and diesel. It has also recommended linking the price of domestic LPG and kerosene distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) to the increase in per capita GDP for urban population and agriculture GDP, respectively.