Jayalalithaa for rollback of petrol price hike

Tamil Nadu chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to rollback the petrol prices. In a statement, she said instead of resorting to frequent hikes in petroleum prices, the Centre should take steps to explore new oil and gas fields and control the falling Rupee.

Jayalalithaa also asked the Centre to change the way fuel prices were fixed. It may be noted that petrol prices were hiked by Rs 2.54 per litre on Saturday, the second increase this month, as a falling Rupee made imports costlier.

"Considering the welfare of the nation, the Centre should take steps to change the way petrol prices are fixed. The government should also explore oil and gas fields in the country and prevent depreciation of the Rupee against the US Dollar," she said.

The chief minister said that the increase in petrol price will lead to a further increase in the prices of essential commodities, depreciate the value of the Rupee and erode the Indian economy.

On petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily's statement that those in his office were "threatened" by oil import lobbies who wanted to deter them from taking decisions that could cut the $160 billion import Bill, Jayalalithaa said, "The minister himself making such statements is a threat to the nation's security."