It is high time that we start thinking about saving our economy from crippling effect of the crude oil price rise. We can basically do this by reducing petrol consumption. We can also start giving importance to ethanol production as the same is done in the United States of America and Brazil. They have been converting corn, soyabean and other crops to ethanol. But while we take such a step, we have to weigh it in terms of rise of food prices, due to this diversion.

We are all aware of the event which happened when Reliance was not able to sell the petrol and diesel at the price that was equal to PSU companies. Several retail outlets of petroleum products within the country had to be closed. In my opinion, there is certainly a limit for sustaining huge losses by PSU petroleum companies. How long can they survive with such huge losses, reflecting on their balance sheet?

There is a huge demand of crude oil in India and the number of private cars and vehicles in India are also increasing. Companies are introducing new cars but fuel efficiency is still a matter of consideration. These days we can see families having more than two cars and some families have cars for their servant too. It would be wise enough to let people coming from the same colony and having same office timing to pool, using a single car. Government must also take some drastic steps to reduce petroleum consumption in the country. Even subsidized kerosene is not reaching the poor; instead it is being used as adulterant in diesel.