'Coalition politics held up reforms'

The Economic Survey blames 'coalition politics and federal considerations' for their role in holding up economic reforms on several fronts, ranging from diesel and LPG pricing. It advocates a fixed subsidy on every litre of diesel as an interim measure before the fuel is decontrolled. In recent years, diesel price adjustments have lagged international prices and the budgetary subsidies for the fuel have ballooned, the survey noted. Currently, oil companies incur a revenue loss of Rs 12.17 on every litre of diesel and Rs 439 on every domestic LPG cylinder. The total subsidy on diesel stood at Rs 56,732 crore while on domestic LPG it was Rs 20,516 crore during the first three quarters of this fiscal.