Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily defended the hike in petrol and diesel prices by state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) citing high under-recovery.
It may be recalled that OMCs hiked the prices of petrol by 75 paise and diesel by 50 paise per litre while effecting a Rs 45 cut in LPG cylinder price.
Moily attributed the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel to the rupee depreciation. The Indian currency hit a 11-month low making oil imports costlier.
He further said that the the central government authorised OMCs to make appropriate changes in the oil prices according to the prevailing market condition.
He also pointed out that for every one rupee depreciation it will cost Rs 9,000 crore for OMCs. Moily was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function to unveil Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG Consumer Scheme in Tumkur, Karnataka.
Moily took exception to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa slamming the centre for increasing petrol and diesel price soon after Karnataka assembly elections.
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