Swami Bengaluru - Chidambaram says no to duty cut

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Chidambaram says no to duty cut

Written by amith
28 May 2008
Uncertainty continues over the upward revision of petrol and diesel prices as Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday was understood to have turned down a proposal of the Petroleum Ministry to cut down duties on petroleum products to bail out state-owned oil marketing firms currently hit by the relentless rise in global crude oil prices. During the meeting with Chidambaram, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora put forth the proposal for cutting down various duties on crude oil and petroleum products along with an upward revision in their prices to tackle the crisis. However, the Finance Minister expressed reluctance to cut the duties unless alternate sources of revenues were identified, sources said. Subsequently, it was proposed that if the government was finding it difficult to reduce the duties then it could impose a cess or surcharge on income tax and corporate tax to bail out the state-owned oil marketing firms, which are currently selling all the four petroleum products —petrol, diesel, domestic LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene — below cost prices. The Petroleum Ministry has also proposed to raise petrol price by Rs 10 a litre, diesel by Rs 5 per litre and that of LPG by Rs 50 per cylinder to reduce by one-third the nearly Rs 600 crore per day loss being made by the three oil firms. But in view of political sensitivity over any hike in prices of petroleum products — that too at such a juncture of time when assembly polls in several states are round the corner and the country is heading for general election early next year — there appears to be no takers for suggestion for hike. ! User reviews There are no user reviews for this item. To write a review please register or login.
Last Updated ( 28 May 2008 )