However, as per a Cabinet decision, the prices of cooking gas and kerosene will not go up till the elections are over.

Flaring up

According to RBI estimates, for every $1 increase in international oil prices, India's oil import bill swells around $600 million Foreign exchange dealers said the rise in oil prices would not affect the oil import bill this year as most of the oil companies had booked payments Prices of cooking gas and kerosene will not go up till the elections are over

Petroleum Minister Ram Naik told Business Standard that the government did not interfere in the pricing of transportation fuel and it was up to the oil companies to decide on it.

The oil refining companies have decided to "wait and watch" the rise in global crude prices. "The oil refiners will have to take a decision on revising prices after 15 days. We will have to see the weighted average price of crude and petroleum products for the fortnight and then decide on raising their prices. There will definitely be an increase in the refinery transfer prices, though it may or may not translate into an increase in retail prices," an industry source pointed out.

According to an informal estimate by the Reserve Bank of India some time ago, for every $1 increase in international oil prices, the oil import bill of the country swells around $600 million.

With increasing oil consumption, it can be safely assumed that the bill will go up $750-800 million with every $1 increase in oil prices.

In April-September 2003, a provisional Reserve Bank of India estimate stated that the import of petroleum, petroleum products and related material had climbed to $9.21 billion from $8.66 billion in the same period of 2002.