Mamata right,so are oil firms: Pranab

He was responding to media queries about Mamata’s threat to pull out of the government,during a function at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.

At the same time,Mukherjee defended oil marketing companies over the recent increase in petrol prices,adding that this would also mean that state governments get a larger share from taxes on petrol.

The combined losses of state oil firms BPCL and HPCL for April-September were Rs 12,000 crore. “IOC is also likely to be in the red. The petroleum companies will not be able to import further crude if their financial health is broken,” he said.

Noting that the decision to deregulate the petrol price was taken on June 28 last year,he said that after this,oil marketing companies had the freedom to determine the price of petrol depending on the market. “It is in their domain and not with the government now,” Mukherjee said.

Trinamool weighs options

The Trinamool Congress is debating what line to take when it meets the Prime Minister over the issue of petrol price hike.

With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying she would keep her commitment to support the UPA government for the full term,one option the party is considering is withdrawing its ministers from the government and providing “outside support”. However,others in the party feel that has too much of a Leftist tinge attached to it and hence might not be a viable model for Mamata.