Pre-poll gift: Petrol price cut by Rs 5, diesel by Rs 2 and gas by Rs 25

New Delhi Jan 29: A day after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi practically set the agenda for the government when she told a rally in Rae Bareli that fuel
prices would be reduced soon, the Centre on Wednesday reduced petrol prices by Rs 5 a litre, diesel by Rs 2 and cooking gas by Rs 25 per cylinder. The new prices became effective from midnight.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decided against raising excise and import duties as this would have pared the quantum of reduction. ``This is not the time to raise duties. It is time to pass on maximum relief to people, particularly farmers. The cuts this time have brought pump prices below the levels in June 2006 when oil was nearing its peak of over $147 a barrel,'' oil minister Murli Deora told TOI.