BANGALORE, September 16: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily on Sunday ruled out any immediate rollback of fuel price hike. International crude oil prices were still on a higher side, he said.
Mr. Moily was speaking to reporters after inaugurating two new floors of Bhavan-Bangalore Press School here.
He said though the rupee had been showing signs of recovery, international crude oil prices had not. As such, public sector oil marketing companies were not in a position to rollback the price hike.
To a question on re-introduction of subsidised diesel to public transport vehicles, Mr. Moily said it was also not possible. Worldwide, fuel was not subsidised, he added.
The school
Earlier, Mr. Moily along with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan vice-president and the former Petroleum Minister Murli Deora inaugurated the third and fourth floors of the school building in Chamarajpet. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) funded the construction under its corporate social responsibility initiative. The building is located on 25,000 sq. ft of land provided by Bangalore Press.
In his introductory address, bhavan functionary H.R. Ananth said the day was unique as it was the 153rd birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, who founded Bangalore Press 97 years ago. The school has about 750 students, from nursery to seventh standard, and it intends to add classes up to 12th in the coming years.
The school, which was on a par with private schools, was striving to provide quality education to children from economically weaker sections of society. It intends to add digital classrooms in near future, Mr. Ananth said.
Mr. Deora, as the then Petroleum Minister, had given the nod for funding of the school. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, chairman N. Ramanuja and director H.N. Suresh were present.
