Jayalalithaa seeks diesel price hike rollback

Central govt on Monday hiked diesel prices by 50 paise a litre

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalaithaa has sought rollback of diesel price hike by the Centre and requested it to withdraw the powers granted to oil marketing companies to regulate fuel prices.

In a statement on Tuesday, she said, there was no justification to resort to diesel price hike when the prices of crude oil in the international market were decreasing and the Indian rupee appreciating against the US dollar.

The hike in diesel price will increase inflation further and will lead to uncontrolled rise in price of essential commodities and increase in the cost of transport for poor and middle class people, said the chief minister.

On Monday, oil marketing companies decreased the price of petrol by Rs 3.05 per litre, while diesel prices were hiked by 50 paise a litre.