New Delhi: The central government has clarified that there is no plan to increase the prices of petrol and diesel. The government has completely rejected the speculations that fuel prices may increase after the end of the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said in a press conference, ‘There is no proposal to increase the prices of petrol and diesel.’ He gave this statement in response to a question on the impact of recent developments in West Asia.
‘Panic buying at many places due to rumours’
Sujata Sharma also made it clear that the rumors being spread about price rise after the elections are wrong and that is why at some places people have started panic buying. According to the government, in some states, especially Andhra Pradesh, due to rumors of price rise, people started buying fuel in large quantities, leading to stock out at many petrol pumps. According to reports, more than 400 petrol pumps had run out of fuel on Sunday. At some places, an increase of 30 to 33 percent was seen in demand.
‘Trust only official information’
The government said that there are adequate reserves of petrol, diesel, LPG and aviation fuel (ATF) in the country and the supply is continuing. Officials said that all petrol pumps are being monitored and in places where there is more demand, priority is being given to supply so that there is no shortage. Appealing to the people, Sujata Sharma said, ‘We have sufficient quantity of LPG, petrol and diesel available. There has been no increase in prices. People are requested not to pay attention to rumors and rely only on official information.
Financial pressure on oil marketing companies also increased
However, in the meantime, financial pressure on oil marketing companies has also increased. It is being told that government fuel companies are selling petrol and diesel at prices below the market price, due to which they are incurring huge losses. According to some estimates, this loss could reach around Rs 2,400 crore per day. Experts had earlier feared that petrol and diesel prices may increase by Rs 25 to Rs 28 per liter after the elections due to rising international crude oil prices and increasing gap between domestic and global prices. However, the government has rejected all these speculations.
