Cess to bail out oil firms?
A cess or surcharge on income tax and corporate tax may be levied to bail out oil firms reeling under high global prices as the Petroleum Ministry's proposal to raise petrol price by Rs. 10 a litre, diesel by Rs. 5 a litre and that of LPG by Rs. 50 a cylinder finds few takers. The new proposal follows Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's reluctance to cut duties on crude oil and petroleum products unless alternative source of revenues are identified.