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Mindful of Inflation, Iraq crisis, Govt burns midnight Oil on Gas Price issue

After meeting the Prime Minister on Sunday, both Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan again met Narendra Modi on Monday amid speculations that efforts are being made to somehow blunt the impact of the hike in gas price once the new regime is implemented.

As reported by The Pioneer on June 11, there have been indications from the Petroleum Ministry that the Rangarajan panel formula on which the new gas price regime is based (which will double the prices from the current $4 mmBtu to $8 mmBtu) will be studied thoroughly, right from its background to all legalities involved in it, before a call is taken on the matter

At the same time though, sources had informed that a decision will definitely come on it soon, without wasting much time. With the crisis in Iraq having unfolded over the past 10 days, the Government is also weighing the issue all the more cautiously, which explains all the intense deliberations over the past few days. Sources said that the Government does not want to add to already high inflation, which may accelerate due to a below-normal monsoon and a spike in oil prices in the aftermath of the Iraq crisis. 

Source-On Request