Let the Centre set an example

Every time the government announces an increase in the price of diesel and other fuels, the aam aadmi is told that “there is no free lunch”! Only, this lunch is getting more and more expensive, and, if petroleum minister M. Veerappa Moily had his way, citizens would also have had to suffer an 8 pm to 8 am fuel “curfew” with it. This last idea dreamt up by Mr Moily’s ministry has thankfully been shot down by the Prime Minister’s Office, but citizens’ woes have hardly ended.

Travelling by air ahead of this Dasara and Diwali is set to become prohibitively expensive with the oil companies hiking aviation fuel prices, that forms almost 50 per cent of an airline’s operating costs. ATF prices are up 22 per cent since July as, like petrol, it is deregulated. Petrol prices too were raised by `2.35/litre last weekend, along with diesel by 50 paise.

But worse lies ahead. If Mr Moily has his way, a steep hike in diesel, and perhaps even kerosene, is likely later this month, which will hit those notso-well-off even harder. If successive governments had followed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s goal of self-sufficiency in oil, India wouldn’t have to be so helplessly dependent on petroleum imports (almost 80 per cent) to fuel its economy.

Today India is virtually hostage to the almost continuous crisis in the Middle East, from where the bulk of our oil supplies come, and oil importers are laughing all the way to the bank. On June 13, Mr Moily had claimed some lobbies didn’t want India to stop, or even reduce, oil imports. Besides bureaucratic delays, he said, “there are also other lobbies. They don’t want us to stop imports. There are some lobbies working on that. Every minister is threatened many times.”

But the government has inexplicably remained silent and not followed up on this allegation, and insisted Mr Moily reveal the names of those who threatened him. It’s a fact that many proposals are pending with the oil ministry. If Mr Moily is really serious, he should take up the case of every block held up for want of clearances and get them off the ground. This, of course, is for the long term.

In the short term, state governments should be asked to cut taxes on petrol and diesel, as these account for nearly 30-50 per cent of their sale price. And conservation of petrol and diesel should first start with the governments at the Centre and states, which run the maximum number of cars. The foreign exchange saved may not be huge, but the example this sets will be immense. Every litre saved counts for a country that is in dire straits.