The government has hiked the prices of diesel by three rupees a liter, Kerosene by two rupees a liter and cooking gas by 50 rupees a cylinder. The decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of Empowered Group of Ministers on petroleum products chaired by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy told reporters after the meeting that fuel price hike is minimal and unavoidable.The government had also abolished the 5 percent customs duty on crude oil and slashed import duty on all petroleum products to 2.5 percent from 7.5percent. It has cut excise duty on diesel to 2 rupees per litre from 4 rupees 60 paise. The duty cut will cost the government an estimated 49,000 crore rupees this fiscal. TheBJP and Left parties today held nationwide protest against the hike. BJP Spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that increase in fuel prices will have cascading effect on inflation. BJP workers courted arrest in Jantar Mantar after staging protest . Police had to use water jets to control the demonstrators. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee has opposed the hike in fuel prices, saying it will put the common man in great difficulty. AIADMK has also demanded an immediate rollback of the increase.