The Government has hiked the prices of diesel by Rs 3 a liter, kerosene by Rs 2 a liter and cooking gas by Rs 50 a cylinder. The decision to this effect was taken in the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on petroleum products chaired by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The details were given by Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy after the meeting in New Delhi on Friday. Mr Reddy said the import duty of 5 per cent on crude oil has been eliminated. He said customs duty on all petroleum products has been reduced from 7.5 percent to 2.5 per cent. The excise duty on diesel is reduced to Rs 2 from Rs 4.60 a litre. These two measures will cost the Government exchequer Rs 49,000 crore this fiscal. Despite the hike he added that oil marketing companies will lose RS 1 lakh 20 thousand crore. Mr Reddy said these measures were essential to address the growing under recoveries of oil marketing companies. Diesel will now sell in Delhi at Rs 40.75 per litre while it will cost Rs 45.06 in Mumbai and Rs 43.06 in Kolkata. The prices of diesel, under the Government control, were raised a year ago. Mr. Jaipal Reddy said even after this hike, Petroleum products in India are cheaper compared to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The UPA ally Trinamool Congress and the Opposition parties have criticised the Government for hike in prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said the hike in fuel prices will increase the hardship for common man. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that the hike will also affect India's growth story. CPI-M said the Left parties would also organise nationwide protests against the price hike in petroleum products. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa described the hike as unacceptable and demanded its immediate rollback.