The Hindu Business Line : No going back on oil price hike

In the past two years, oil prices have been raised a number of times, affecting the middle class and the poor badly. The prices of other products have also shot up as a result.

Satish, Hyderabad

In the wake of increasing oil price in the world markets, the Centre has decided to raise the prices of petrol and diesel in the domestic market. And everyone — the Left, the BJP, the Congress-ruled States — are voicing opinions. The Petroleum Minister has ruled out a rollback.

But apparently, the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, is not happy with it. The matter thus is yet to be settled.

If there is a rollback, partially or otherwise, by cutting the tax on it, the Government will have to find other sources to compensate the loss in revenue. You cannot have the cake and eat it too.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

The Petroleum Minister is firm about not rolling back oil prices and the Petroleum Secretary calls the price hike "very marginal" and says it has been long overdue.

The Left and other Opposition parties observed an all-India protest on June 13 against the hike. The UPA Government is under heavy pressure from the Left coalition to reconsider the decision in the light of the proposals submitted to the Prime Minister.

It appears that the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, is also not happy with the hike. The increase in the oil prices will have cascading effects. The Centre would do well to reduce the price hike by 50 per cent.

S. Nallasivan, Tirunelveli

The Centre seems determined to stick to the price hike in petrol. Maharashtra made a small cut in the sales tax and the Tamil Nadu Government has decided not to levy sales tax on the increase in the price of diesel.

The Congress party has advised the States ruled by it to moderate the price; the BJP-led States too are doing the same.

The Delhi Government has slashed the price by 67 paise effective from next week.

The impact is mainly due to our over-dependence on oil which is controlled by international cartels. Power through wind farms is also viable.

We should also try to develop the use of sugarcane molasses, as a commercial source of oil as Brazil has done.

With government support, ethanol too could prove commercially viable.

T. S. Sundareswaran, New Delhi

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