New Delhi, Nov 13 : The petroleum ministry has started inter-ministerial consultations to hike the regulated price of gas sold by the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd.

According to sources, the petroleum ministry has referred to other ministries for their views the long-standing demand of ONGC and Oil India for raising gas price from the current $1.9 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu).

ONGC chief R. S. Sharma Friday told a business channel that there would be an increase of Rs. 2,000 crore in the company's revenues if the government approves a gas price hike of 31 percent.

"This should translate into a revenue gain of about Rs. 2,000 crore on annualised basis," Sharma told CNBC TV-18.

But, he cautioned that it was not yet a done deal. "To my understanding, that ministry has already taken a view on this to clear this price hike. Let's see when it comes up for the final approval."(IANS)