'Amid protests, govt for partial rollback of petrol prices'

The government is planning a partial rollback in petrol prices amid vehement protests of the hike by opposition parties. The final decision on the rollback will be taken after the return of petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy. India fumes over petrol price hike

The Central government is planning a partial rollback in petrol prices amid vehement protests of the hile by opposition parties, according to media reports. The final decision on the rollback will however be taken after the return of Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy from Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand and Kerala have announced the cut and petrol will now be Rs 1.63 cheaper in Kerala and Rs 1.87 cheaper in Uttarakhand.

The Congress-led UDF government on Thursday decided to forgo additional tax on petrol now it will be cheaper by Rs 1.63 in the state. A litre petrol costs Rs 74.11 (after the price hike it was 75.74 a litre) in Thiruvananthpuram.

Announcing this Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he as written to the Centre requesting it to lessen the burden on common people. The state Congress unit has also asked the Centre to withdraw the hike.

The Uttarakhand government has decided to waive off VAT on the increased amount. A decision to this effect was taken at the state cabinet presided over by chief minister Vijay Bahuguna last night, official sources said today.

Meanwhile, the protest against petrol price hike is growing in the country. The opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh including Telugu Desam, CPM and CPI and BJP staged protests in Vijayawada city and Krishna district against the government's decision on petrol price hike.

The TDP, BJP and CPM leaders in the city staged 'rasta roko' at different places and demanded to roll back the hike. They questioned why the Union government was not willing to cut excise and customs duties on crude oil instead of raising the price.

Even the state government was not willing to cut its sales tax on petroleum price to relieve the common man from the hike, they said.

The leaders expressed fear that the government may also hike diesel and LPG prices within a few days. The petrol price hike will definitely have an impact
on the bypolls in the state and the people will teach a lesson to Congress in the bypolls, to be held for 18 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat on June 12, the protesting leaders said.