Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday said the government does not interfere in the pricing of petroleum products which had been deregulated, allowing state-owned retailers to fix rates based on the international benchmark.
The comment came as criticism mounted on the move by the government to ask state-owned oil PSUs to subsidise petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre to make retail price cut look bigger after it cut excise duty on the fuels by Rs 1.50 a litre.
Global oil major BP, which secured a licence to open petrol pumps in the country but hasn't started fuel retailing yet, Monday said: "Price controls will not be good for the fuel sector."
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