Fuel prices cannot be reduced immediately on fall in global crude rates: Union Minister

THRISSUR: Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Thursday said that the fuel prices cannot be reduced immediately when the rate of global crude comes down as it involves many factors, including the time taken for the cheaper oil to reach India.

Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, said of the recent hike in fuel prices, only an increase of around Rs 3.94 per litre has made an impact, but it cannot be immediately rolled back just because the cost of crude has gone down globally.

"It will take time as the cheaper crude has to be transported to India via Strait of Hormuz, which will see an excessive traffic of ship movement. So things will have to be normalised," he told reporters here.

He further said that since the war broke out in West Asia in February this year, the oil companies were impacted in a big way and the central government absorbed the impact to a good extent.

"By absorbing the impact, the Centre lost Rs 12,000 crore. None of the states reduced their revenue by charging a lesser excise duty on the higher fuel prices. The central government has to run and the oil companies have to survive," Gopi said.

On the issue of setting up an AIIMS in Kerala, the Union Minister of State said that proper procedure for it has to be followed by the state as it cannot be carried out akin to shopping in a market.

He also said that there was a slight "discrepancy" when state Health Minister K Muraleedharan reportedly said that an AIIMS can be set up anywhere in Kerala.

"The state has to inform the committee dealing with the matter about the number of sites it has identified for setting up an AIIMS and thereafter, discussions would be held on selecting a location," he said.

Gopi further said that while Muraleedharan has said he will get in touch with him, he has not received any official invite for talks.