petrol tears; price to be slashed by Rs 2

UPA government having to receive severe blows when it had to raise petrol prices seem to have finally woken up to the woes of the aam aadmi when reports emerged that the govt is likely to slash petrol prices by Rs 2. Though the final announcement is yet to be made, sources within the Oil Ministry has stated that the slashing of the prices cannot essentially be termed a rollback and that it was the government who suggested a reduction in the fuel price. With a high profile meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday among the head of all the major oil companies, the issue still persists on the losses incurred by the companies. The sources also confirmed that the decision is a political decision and the real issue faced by oil companies needs to be addressed. The move if implemented will see the first reduction in petrol prices since Jun 2010 after petrol price was derugulated from government giving oil companies the full power to decide on the price. With the Opposition and the UPA allies tearing into the UPA for the second price hike within a month, there was widepsread agitation and the various political parties were determined to question the move when the Parliament begins its winter session from Nov 22. The latest price hike has been the fifth one since Dec 2010.