Oil Minister: Those who can afford should pay more

The new petroleum and natural gas minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, who is minister of state with independent charge, is an unknown quantity. This means he has no baggage to shed and can start on a clean slate.

The first thing he should remember is that it is his ministry that did the UPA in. This may be an oversimplification, but if the UPA's policy failures can be attributed to one single ministry, it is petroleum. Reason: all the economy's problems - high fiscal deficit, high expenses on subsidies, public sector wealth destruction and high inflation - can be linked to the UPA's failures to get energy policy and pricing right. It waited too long to start reducing petroleum subsidies, and towards the end it even worsened the problem by increasing the quantum of subsidised cylinders supplied to 12 per household per year, and aborted the direct cash benefits transfer scheme to limit subsidies only to the deserving.

For More information on this news visit : http://www.newsx.com/
Connect with us on Social platform at : http://www.facebook.com/newsxonline
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel : http://www.youtube.com/newsxlive