Tank up! Petrol may go up by Rs 10, diesel by Rs 5

Petroleum Min seeks Rs 10 hike in Petrol, Rs 5 in diesel New Delhi : A hike in petrol and diesel prices looks "inevitable" even though the increase may not be of the order of Rs 10 and 5 a litre respectively sought by the Petroleum Ministry. "It (price rise) is inevitable," Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said referring to Rs 2,00,000 crore under- realisation expected by public sector oil companies this year on sale on petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene because of the surge in global crude prices. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are facing a huge liquidity crunch because of the government bar on raising prices and may soon run out of funds to import crude oil. "The situation is alarming and we want to stem the rot at the beginning," he said, adding that the minister was pushing for a combination of auto-fuel price hike and a cut in customs and excise duties. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora apprised the Prime Minister of the situation arising from crude touching 135 dollars per barrel and said, "a decision needs to be taken immediately." "The Prime Minister is concerned about the financial health of the PSUs and he has asked his Principal Secretary to meet secretaries of finance and petroleum along with the heads of the three oil companies to reconcile differences on the issue," he said. Asked if a decision was likely today or tomorrow, Deora said it will take sometime, "May be 3-4 days." Srinivasan said the Ministry was seeking lowering of customs duty on crude from 5 per cent to zero and import duty on petrol and diesel from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Besides, the Ministry was also seeking cut on excise duty on the two products.