Asia/Pacific News
Fuel Subsidies for India's Fishermen OK'd
Indian fishermen can now receive subsidised fuel and are considered individual customers rather than industrial or commercial organisations, according to the country's petroleum and natural gas minister, the Hindu Business Line reports.
Minister M. Veerappa Moily said that, even though they have formed co-operatives and receive fuel supplies directly from dedicated outlets built by oil companies, fishermen are individuals working for a livelihood, and treating them like companies or government organisations would be unfair.
"Supply to fishermen would be treated as retail and will be supplied at the price applicable for other retail outlets of OMCs [oil marketing companies] with immediate effect," he said.
He said fishermen had stopped taking fuel from the dedicated outlets last month.
Fishermen had been charged rs10 ($0.19) per litre more than other retail customers, but protests pushed the government to change that policy, according to the Times of India.
Moily said the government is gradually raising its subsidised retail prices and plans to bring them to market rates in two years.
