Gas pricing issue needs to be look at by new govt: Arun Jaitley New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) A day after the Election Commission ordered deferment of the increase in gas pricing, BJP today said the issue may reconsideration by the next government as it is not clear as to what formulation the UPA dispensation followed in fixing the price. I think as the situation has evolved itself, it may require a reconsideration or revisiting by the next government, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said. He said the government has told the Supreme Court, where a petiton on the matter has been filed, and now the EC has also said that the issue is for the next government to consider as he argued that it is now incumbent for the next government to revisit the issue. In a Google Hangout interaction, he, however, made it clear that he was not in favour of economic adventurism and targeted AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for his allegation that corruption was at the root of the proposed price hike. Merely because somebody is an industrialist I must go and necessarily hit at him so as to appear to be a great fighter for causes itself... We will be guided by the considerations of there being a transparent policy, the industry being able to recover its cost plus some return on investment and the sector itself growing, he said, adding consumers would not be allowed to be exploited. The present government, he said, followed a system where they had an expert committee (Rangrajan) which made recommendations and the Cabinet fixed a particular pricing. Now, its still not clear as to what formulation they followed. They followed the international import pricing which varies from country to country or is it the cost-plus basis, he said, adding he was personally in favour of cost-plus formulation. PTI JAITLEY-GAS 2 LAST Jaitley said there was a need to balance the requirement of the gas sector to grow and ensuring that the consumer is not exploited. Therefore, the basis of the price formulation will have to be understood and made public because as of today there is a lack of clarity as to the basis on which this one price was fixed by the government. Since it is a matter on which a lot of expert input would be required, its a matter which next government would have to consider, he said. The future government, he said, will have to be highly responsible and not merely populist. PTI
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 17:54:19 +0000
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