India’s state oil companies may hike petrol prices

India’s state oil firms announced that they plan to raise petrol prices when the budget session of Parliament ends this month. The oil firms will revise prices every fortnight to recover Rs 5,000 crore (US$901 million) in past revenue losses, saying they have not increased rates since December because of political pressure. The oil ministry has not allowed oil firms to raise petrol prices following a Cabinet decision; the ministry also advised oil firms to postpone the price hikes due to political considerations. (May 15, 2012)