Finance minister Yashwant Sinha and petroleum minister Ram Naik today met Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to resolve differences over some issues concerning the dismantling of the administered pricing mechanism (APM) in the petroleum sector.
While there was no official comment on what transpired in the meeting, it is learnt the two ministers put forth their views on the level of subsidy to be retained on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene sold through the public distribution after the dismantling of APM.
There are sharp differences between the two ministries over the duty structure of petroleum products post-APM.
The petroleum ministry is in favour of a specific excise duty, while the finance ministry, concerned over its shrinking revenue, wants to continue with the ad valorem excise on petroleum products.