Pranab said that “after the Budget session of Parliament is over, I shall discuss with various state governments, chief ministers, leaders of political parties and try to work out an overall mechanism to deal with some of the very crucial issues for which the collective support of all stakeholders are called for.”
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday indicated that a price rise in diesel price was not likely till after the end of the current Budget session of Parliament. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Mukherjee said the UPA government would try and evolve a political consensus on the issue of diesel price hike after the ongoing session before causing any increase in the price of the fuel. On steps being taken to contain fuel subsidy in the wake of hardening global oil prices, the minister said that “after the Budget session of Parliament is over, I shall discuss with various state governments, chief ministers, leaders of political parties and try to work out an overall mechanism to deal with some of the very crucial issues for which the collective support of all stakeholders are called for.”
According to an estimate, oil marketing companies are losing Rs 14.73 a litre on diesel, Rs 30.10 on kerosene and Rs 439.50 per LPG cylinder by selling them below the market price. On petrol, too, they are said to be losing as much as Rs 5 a litre, although petrol prices were freed from government control as early as June 2010. The finance minister vowed to bring back the stalled reforms on track. He said he would try to push through important legislations including Direct Tax Code, banking pension and insurance bills in the second half of the Budget session.
Passage of reform bills is crucial for the country to accelerate the economic growth amid fragile global recovery. “For those bills which I have received the standing committee reports, I will try to get these legislation in the latter part of the season. After the passage of the Finance Bill, we will try to utilise the time available to push the Bills,” Mukherjee said referring to pension and DTC. Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha of the BJP, who heads the standing committee on finance, has promised to table reports on other bills including the one on Goods and Services Tax by the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament.
