NEW DELHI, Aug 20: The long-delayed oil price hike is expected to dominate the crucial UF Steering Committee meeting tomorrow. While the Left Front leaders said today that they were amenable to ``a rationalisation of the petroleum price structure'' in order to bridge the oil pool deficit, the other coalition partners were not confident that the issue would be clinched in tomorrow's meeting. Moreover, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Janeshwar Mishra, today said any further rise in oil prices and depreciation of Rupee will result in further increase in the import bill which will have an adverse impact on the Balance of Payments (BoP) position of the country.The UF's core committee is expected to meet in tomorrow morning at the official residence of the Prime Minister. The meeting is being held against the backdrop of reports of a widening chasm among various coalition partners, including the TMC and the DMK. The Left parties are also said to be sore with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who represents the TMC, for his recent outburst against them.Last time around, the Front leadership, while agreeing to defer a decision on the oil price hike, had veered around to the view that an increase in the prices of petroleum and allied products had become inevitable. ``There was a feeling that a decision on this issue could not be put off for long,'' UF spokesman S Jaipal Reddy had told reporters after the meeting.Significantly, in his key note address after inaugurating the Jan Jagriti Mela in Allahabad, the Petroleum Minister Janeshwar Mishra cautioned against price hike and said with the growing demand and limited indigenous production of crude oil, the import of crude oil and petroleum products was likely to exceed Rs 40,000 crore in the year 2000. The import of the crude and petroleum products valued at Rs 33,000 crore in foreign exchange was nearly 25 percent of the country's total export earnings, he remarked.India's consumption of petroleum products was growing at the rate of nine percent per annum and it was likely to touch eighty one million tonnes in the current financial year, the minister added.Meanwhile the Left, realizing the inevitability of a hike, wants the Union Finance Ministry to announce it as a part of a broader package which could include, among other things, a concrete plan for curbing wasteful expenditure, steps to enhance petroleum production within the country, a blueprint for tapping alternative sources of fuel and steps to reduce the dependence on oil imports.``A decision to increase petroleum prices cannot be taken in isolation,'' said a Left Front leader, ``The Government has to come out with a broader package containing the points which could prevent any further hike in the future.''But other constituents of the UF were not so hopeful of a final decision being taken. ``After all, it is the image of our Government which is at stake. Any hasty decision will adversely affect our prospects across the country,'' said a senior leader. Besides trying to take a final decision on the oil price issue, the UF leaders are also likely to discuss steps to streamline the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), including enhancing the amount of foodgrain distributed to people living below the poverty line.
