Price revision schedule soon
The government will decide the periodicity for reviewing petrol prices in three weeks, according to petroleum secretary Mr S. Sundareshan.
“Oil marketing companies and the government will jointly take a decision on how often petrol prices should be revised. The revision of petrol prices depends on several f
actors. We will come to a conclusion in two-three weeks,” said Mr Sundareshan. The oil companies will also decide whether they will sell petrol at the same price.
In the aviation sector, oil marketing companies revise aircraft fuel prices, which are already decontrolled, every 15 days. Last week, the government had decided to decontrol petrol prices and simultaneously raised the prices of key auto and cooking fuels.
Under attack from the Opposition for the fuel price hike, the petroleum minister, Mr Murli Deora, on Wednesday said that the increase in LPG prices translated to an increase of less than Re 1 per day and 26-27 paisa a day on kerosene. “We have kept the burden on the poor man at the minimal. The talk of the hike breaking the back of the poor and common man is nothing but exaggeration,” he said.
To make India a favour-able destination for exploration and production, Mr Deora said the government plans to move to the open acreage licensing policy regime soon. “Under this policy, companies can suggest any block on offer at any time, without waiting for the regular bid rounds under the New Exploration Licensing Policy. The blocks will be awarded to the party giving the best bid,” he said.
The government on Wednesday signed 31 production sharing contracts with 20 firms, who had won the blocks under the eighth round of NELP. The firms have committed $1.1 billion for E&P activities.
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