Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has asked the Finance Minister to reconsider cutting customs and excise duties on LPG and kerosene to keep their prices under check. He has asked P. Chidambaram to abolish the duties on the two subsidised products from the current 10 per cent so that the subsidy burden on oil companies comes down. Aiyar wrote to Chidambaram saying he was ‘‘disappointed’’ that the oil sector remained untouched in the Budget. ‘‘I was hoping that you would address through the Budget issues relating to duty structure in the petroleum sector, especially customs duties, and subsidies on kerosene and domestic LPG,’’ he added. If Chidambaram agrees, the subsidy burden on oil firms will come down to Rs 6,368 crore from the estimated Rs 8,800 crore.
