Deregulated diesel will have cascading effect on inflation: CPI

NEW DELHI: CPI today attacked the government for deregulating diesel prices, saying the move would have a cascading effect on the overall inflation as the immediate reduction in prices due to a fall in global crude price levels may not remain for long.

"In the long term, the deregulation of prices would do more harm than good as the government will have no role in regulating the prices. This will adversely affect the common people," CPI National Secretary D Raja said here.

The government has also not reduced the charges of public transport like bus and rail fare which were raised due to the hike in diesel prices, he said, asserting that the decline in diesel prices by over Rs three was "only a temporary phenomenon".

"Earlier, the Congress did away with the administered price mechanism and deregulated petrol prices and now the BJP has deregulated diesel prices," Raja said.

Regarding the fixing of natural gas prices, the CPI leader said the government had increased it to USD 5.61 per mmBtu and not to the level of USD 8.4 as recommended by panels set up by the previous UPA-II government.

But by deciding to revise the prices every six months, the government has found "a camouflaged way of helping the private corporate houses and assuring them that their interests will be taken care of," Raja said.