The government has hiked prices of petrol and diesel prices by Rs 4 per litre and Rs 2 per litre respectively. The government though decided to leave prices of kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) untouched. The hike comes into effect from midnight.

Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference, Oil Secretary RS Pandey said the government could not sustain the under-recoveries — amounting to as much as Rs 6 per litre on petrol and Rs 4 per litre on diesel. The secretary said the government would however bear a burden of about Rs 30,000 crore as losses incurred on cooking fuels.

The previous UPA government had cut fuel prices in line with falling international crude oil prices, which had plummeted to USD 30s per barrel range in March 2009 from a high of about USD 147 per barrel in July 2008. Oil has picked up since and currently stands at about USD 70 per barrel.

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