No alternative to petro price hikes: FM

Stressing that there was no alternative except to raise the prices of petroleum products, finance minister P Chidambaram said oil companies will incur a loss of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore during the current fiscal if the present trend of spiralling crude oil prices continued for some more months.

Though the UPA government was exploring other options, "there is no alternative but to hike the prices of petroleum products, and people have to share a part of the burden," Chidambaram said while speaking to media persons here yesterday.