New Delhi, June 24 (PTI): Biting the bullet, government on Saturday hiked the price of diesel by Rs. 3 a litre, kerosene Rs. 2 a litre and cooking gas by a steep Rs. 50 a cylinder to raise Rs. 21,000 crores, and slashed customs and excise duties on petroleum products, sacrificing Rs 49,000 crore a year. The hike in prices will be effective from midnight tonight. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, met today and took the much—deferred politically sensitive decision, which Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said was done to cut down on burgeoning under—recovery of oil marketing companies. The under—recoveries which stood at Rs. 1,71,140 crores will now come down by Rs. 21,000 crores after today’s decision. Today’s decision comes more than a month after petrol price was hiked by Rs. 5 a litre.
