Hyderabad, July 01: There may not be any relief for the aam aadmi in the State, as far as the Rs 35 burden imposed by the Centre on cooking gas is concerned.
According to sources, the state government is not willing to bear either in full or in part the burden in view of the precarious financial position though it had initially showed some inclination to soften the blow by bearing at least a portion of the burden. The general feeling in the state government is that as it is already bearing a burden of Rs 25 per cylinder, any further relief would put the exchequer under severe strain.
Members of the Cabinet subcommittee on prices, who met Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday evening, reportedly discussed the issue but did not like the idea.
If it decides to take the burden, it will have to pick up a bill for anywhere between Rs 350 crore and Rs 400 crore. Which means it would stand to lose that much revenue that the hike in petrol and diesel would fetch.
Though it is an unexpected windfall for the state government, it is not keen on foregoing it in the form of subsidy.
A final call, however, is expected to be taken at the cabinet meeting on Thursday.
Civil Supplies Minister Jupalli Krishna Rao told Express that the issue of bearing the burden did not come up for discussion at the meeting with the chief minister.
“As the issue was not discussed, the question of taking a decision does not arise,” he claimed but added that it might come up for discussion at the cabinet meeting.
–Agencies