By IANS,
New Delhi : A ministerial meeting scheduled for Friday to consider limiting supply and hike in price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been deferred indefinitely due to political pressure, sources said.
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was scheduled to consider the recommendations of a task force on LPG and kerosene pricing.
The panel has proposed that every household should be given only four to six LPG cylinders per year at a subsidised price and additional cylinders should be supplied on market price. Average households use 20 to 30 LPG cylinders each year.
An LPG cylinder is sold at a subsidised price of Rs.395 in Delhi while the market price is around Rs.700 per cylinder.
The EGoM meeting has been deferred for the third time due to pressure from key allies of the government. The Trinamool Congress and the DMK have expressed reservations over the hike in LPG price. No new date for the meeting is notified yet.
State-run oil marketing firms Thursday hiked petrol price by Rs.3.14 per litre. However, the price of diesel has been left untouched.