Murli Deora Petroleum Minister

25.06.10 New Delhi : Households have to pay Rs. 35 per gas Cylinder, and Kerosene / diesel rates are also raised by Rs. 3.72 per litre, announced oil secretary, S. Sundaresan after a meeting of empowered G.M. he added that petrol would be freed from all pricing control, while Diesel rates would be hiked by Rs.2 a liter. Poor man’s Kerosene will be dearer by Rs 3 a litre, the govt said. Petrol costs Rs 23 per liter, without tax now.
Finance Minister Pranal Mukaherjee headed the E-GOM meeting. Diesel prices may go the petrol way, freed of all administrative controls, Sudareshan thought. Global crude oil prices were around US dollars 77 per barrel. Taking advantage of the lower market prices, the Central Govt wanted to  cut down on huge subsidy bills and give relief to PSUs doing oil marketing work to bear the burden of selling below the market prices, Sunderesan concluded. The decision on hiking prices could cause core inflation, already at 10.16% today.