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Shanker Chakravarty

Striving for common ground : The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, being received by the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, at her residence prior to the Congress Working Committee meeting to discuss high inflation and global crude prices, in the Capital on Saturday.

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New Delhi, May 31 The public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) that are suffering revenue loss due to spurt in international crude oil prices may have to wait till next week for a bail out package. The package is expected to include a marginal price hike on auto fuels and cooking gas, duty rationalisation, upstream contribution, and oil bonds.

The week saw hectic consultations among the core Group of Ministers which included the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram and the Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the UPA Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, also held deliberations on the issue.

Speculations were rife that the Government may consider raising the price of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG partially offset the estimated Rs 2,25,000 crore revenue loss suffered by OMCs for selling petroleum products below the cost price. A final decision is still awaited; the matter remains open. Any decision could now be expected only next week.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) which met on Saturday evening discussed the issue of rising global crude prices. Speaking to newspersons after the meeting the General Secretary of the party, Mr Janardan Dwidi, said global crude prices were a cause of concern and the party was with the Government.

Senior Congress leader and the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Anand Sharma, told Business Line after the meeting that, “The Government is trying its level best to address the issue in a manner that the burden which is normally passed on to the consumer is minimised.

However, it is a very difficult situation that the world is facing because of spiralling oil prices which have cascading inflationary impact. This is also destabilising the economies of many countries,” he said.

Any delay would mean that the three OMCs would be taking further strain on their profitability. While Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation would run out of cash to even import crude oil in July, Indian Oil Corporation will feel the strain in September. The companies are losing Rs 16.34 a litre on petrol, Rs 23.49 on diesel, Rs 305.90 per LPG cylinder and Rs 28.72 per litre on kerosene.

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