Pranab declines comment on petrol price hike

Kolkata: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday night declined to make any further comment on the petrol price hike beyond what he had stated earlier on issue.

"I have stated earlier what I had to say. I have nothing more to add," he told reporters on arrival from New Delhi here.

Mukherjee had said after the petrol price hike that the decision to increase petrol price by Rs 7.54 a litre was taken by oil marketing companies as the government had deregulated the fuel nearly two years ago.

"The decision has been taken. Petrol is a deregulated commodity," Mukherjee told reporters in response to queries on the steep hike in petrol prices on Tuesday.