India’s Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has said that the prices of petroleum products should be rationalized but the poor man must be protected from the economic impact of this rationalization.

He pointed out that about 80 percent of the fuel requirement is met through import of crude oil and high prices of the crude oil in the international markets have increased the import bill for the country. The state-run oil firms in the country have not been able to increase the price of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene for about a year even as the prices of crude ol have risen by about a forth in the period.

“We need to rationalise prices and at the same time ensure that the poor and needy are shielded from the effects of such a rationalisation,” he said. He was speaking at an event organized to dedicate Rs 20,000 crore-Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab.

He pointed out that the government has been paying for a sizeable portion of the fuel import bill in order to insulate the common man from the impact of rising oil prices. The government directly subsidizes diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG in order to make it available at below market prices.