'Only PM can decide on rollback of LPG price hike'

Amid growing demand for rolling back the hike in the price of a cylinder of cooking gas by Rs 40, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Friday said that the issue could be decided only by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Asked about Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson V K Malhotra's statement that prime minister had assured him that he (Vajpayee) would discuss the rollback of price hike announced in the Budget for 2002-03, Naik said, "Prime minister is open to discussing such issues. He will certainly look into it."

Naik told reporters that prices of LPG and kerosene were increased to meet urgent national necessities like defence, health and education.

"The hike (in consumer prices) was necessary though it has caused inconvenience to many," he said.

Prices and meeting budgetary requirements are finance minister's decisions, Naik said but admitted that the hike in prices of cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene were a heavy burden on the consumers.

The minister said that petroleum sector would be deregulated from next month and pricing of controlled products - petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG - freed from administrative controls.

"Companies would have the freedom to fix prices," he said.

Asked if the prices of petrol and diesel would come down as a result of dismantling of the administered pricing mechanism, Naik said, "They should reduce."

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
The Rediff Budget Special
More Budget Stories
Interviews
Money