Indian Government will spend around Rs 14,000 crore to promote environment-friendly electric and hybrid vehicles, and reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels.

S. Sundareshan, secretary to department of heavy industries, said the government would spend the money to fund research & development, infrastructure and subsidies.

Speaking on the topic, Sundareshan said, "We will put in some specific schemes with regard to subsidy element, R&D, demand creation and infrastructure."

Concerned regarding the influence of retail fuel price trek on food, necessary possessions and added articles, on Wednesday the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry expressed that the government was not bearing in mind the deregulation of diesel prices up till now as the move might direct to an augmentation in inflation.

According to Petroleum Secretary S. Sundareshan at the Economic Editors' Conference here that Diesel price deregulation shall signifies a boost in prices that is not reasonable in the given conditions.

With a view to keep the growth on track, the petroleum ministry has recently requested the finance ministry to rework on the direct tax codes with a view to ensure that the oil and gas producers in the country can continue to benefit from the tax breaks.

It is to be mentioned here that a letter sent to the revenue secretary Sunil Mitra by the petroleum secretary S. Sundareshan has said that at present the exploration and production industry is benefiting from both i. e. the seven year tax holiday and also the allowance of capex.

From April 1, the price of cleaner fuels will go up. The raised prices will be applicable across 13 cities. This information was given by S Sundareshan, the Petroleum Secretary on Wednesday.

This fuel, though, better and cleaner because it will follow the Euro-IV standards, is going to be little costlier than it is as of now.

The secretary was speaking during a conference where clean fuel was being launched. He said that the clean fuel will be available in 13 cities from April 1. Some of the most prominent ones in the list are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Banglaore, Chennai and Hyderabad.