Reddy: Ending fuel subsidy politically difficult

India’s oil ministry has sought an additional Rs100 billion (US$2.19 billion) in subsidy for the third quarter for state-run oil marketing companies, Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy said. The oil marketing companies–Indian Oil Corp., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp.–incur revenue losses from selling diesel fuel and cooking fuels at state-set discounted prices. The government compensates for these losses through subsidies and discounts from upstream companies. The marketing companies are likely to report gross revenue losses for the current financial year through March of Rs720 billion (US$15.74 billion), up from Rs460.51 billion (US$10.07 billion) from the previous year. (January 27, 2011)