|
PM hints at fuel price hike, stresses energy
security
Saturday April 28, 2012 09:37:24 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
Bathinda
(Punjab): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday hinted
at an impending hike in fuel prices saying that there is need for
such an exercise to balance the effects of the spiralling oil
import bill.
"With imports accounting for about 80 percent of our crude
supplies, the spiralling prices of crude in the international
market have put a severe strain on our import bill," Singh said in
a speech while inaugurating a refinery here.
"We also need to rationalize prices and at the same time ensure
that the poor and needy are shielded from the effects of such a
rationalization," he said.
The prime minister's comments came in the wake of demands by oil
marketing companies (OMCs) which say they either be allowed to
raise petrol prices or the government should compensate them for
the underrecoveries. The OMCs say their inability to raise prices
from Dec 16, 2011 to March 31, 2012 has resulted in total
under-recovery of Rs.2,287 crore.
Earlier this month, they virtually threatened to increase petrol
prices by Rs.8.04 a litre, asking the government to otherwise cut
excise duty on petrol and give them Rs.49 crore a day in
compensation.
The government had deregulated petrol pricing since June 2010 but
continues to control and subsidise the prices of diesel, kerosene
and cooking gas on political considerations.
The prime minister said India faced an enormous challenge on the
energy front and domestic sources of crude oil and gas were
inadequate to meet the needs of a growing economy.
"The challenges we face on the energy front are formidable. We
need adequate supplies of energy at affordable prices. Domestic
sources of crude oil and gas are inadequate to meet the growing
demands of our rapidly expanding economy," he said.
India also needed to conserve energy and there was "no room for
inefficient and wasteful usage of fuel", said the prime minister.
The Rs.21,500-crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Phullokari
village near Bathinda town in southwest Punjab that Singh
inaugurated is a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
Limited (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd (MEL),
Singapore, a Lakshmi N. Mittal group company. MEL has 49 percent
stake in the refinery project.
The project had become fully operational recently.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Unite to oppose gay marriage: Pope's envoy
asks Muslims, Jews
The pope's representative in Britain has urged
Roman Catholics to form a "united front" with Muslims and Jews to
oppose gay marriage, a media
»
Dead Sea can help Govt. take a wise
decision on Gay Sex
Church activists protest Moscow gay film
fest
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Third Gandhi visits Maharashtra, but drought
continues...
As Congress
general secretary Rahul Gandhi began his one-day tour of
drought-hit areas of Maharashtra's Satara district Saturday, he
became the third Gandhi after his late father
»
|
|
Kashmir's Barelvi, Ahle Hadith leaders deny
sectarian tension
Amid talk
of tension between Kashmir Valley's predominant Barelvi Muslims
and the fast spreading Ahle Hadith school of thought, their
leaders have dismissed it as "false propaganda"
»
Mirwaiz Umer condemns efforts to trigger sectarian strife
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
Israel leaders misleading public on Iran: Ex-security chief
The former chief of Israel's domestic intelligence agency has
accused the country's leadership of "misleading" the public on the
merits of a possible military strike on Iran, BBC reported.
Former Shin Bet chief Yuval
»
|
|
Jaffar Sharief, Dhawan for governor's posts?
The Congress leadership is considering some
senior leaders and retired officials for appointment as governors
in view of Raj Bhavan vacancies in some states, party sources said
Saturday. The sources said former
»
|
|
 Bangaru Laxman sentenced to four years' jail
A Delhi Court Saturday awarded four years' rigorous imprisonment
to former Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) president Bangaru Laxman
for accepting a bribe
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Ban
Ki-Moon, secretary-general, United Nations, conferred with
'Doctor of Letters'by Jamia Chancellor Lt.Gen.(Retd) M.A. Zaki
and Vice-Chancellor Najeeb Jung, at a special convocation at
Jamia Millia University.
(Photo: IANS)
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links