By IANS,
New Delhi : A ministerial panel will meet Friday and may decide on decontrolling fuel prices as per the Kirit Parikh committee recommendations.
“The meeting of eGoM (empowered group of ministers) is on Friday,” Petroleum minister Murli Deora said Tuesday, declining to comment on the possibility of a fuel price hike.
A day earlier, Deora had asked all states to reduce their levies on petrol and diesel, which at some places are as high as 33 percent to cushion consumers from the impact of a fuel price increase.
The Parikh committee report released in February says that fuel prices should be market-based, instead of being subsidized heavily by the government. If the government agrees to the suggestion, petrol prices may be increased by over Rs.3 a litre.
The committee has also recommended a steep Rs.100 per cylinder hike in LPG rates and Rs.6 per litre increase in kerosene prices.
The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, could not reach a decision at its previous meeting on June 7.