Reeling under the perception of governance paralysis, the government finally grasped the nettle on Thursday, hiking diesel prices by Rs 5 a litre, while capping the number of subsidized cooking gas cylinders at six a year.
The move was greeted with howls of protests from political parties, including UPA allies, with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee demanding a rollback even as transporters threatened to go on strike, but it underlined the government's intent to repair its finances by reining in subsidies.
The twin decisions are expected to impact household budgets as price of most food items will go up on account of higher transport cost. The cap on subsidized cooking gas will, however, leave a bigger hole in the wallet as there is a subsidy of around Rs 370 on every cylinder that's sold for Rs 399 in Delhi.
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