HIKE \\ The Centre came under heavy flak from all quarters—industrial sectors, political parties, citizens and organisations—over the diesel and LPG price hike which came into being in mid-September. The Union government increased the price of diesel by `5. The new price is `6.2 per litre, including taxes. The price hike immediately affected the transport industry as a whole, and more particularly, Maharashtra was the worst hit. With the increase, the difference in diesel prices between Mumbai and Delhi jumped to `6.5 per litre. The Centre also limited subsidised LPG refill supply to six in a year at the rate of `450. The seventh cylinder will come at a cost of ` 800. The steps led to a slew of protests coming in from almost all states. The BJP and Shiv Sena activists staged demonstrations in Maharastra. Key UPA ally and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee too expressed her unhappiness over the hike and held a series of protests in Kolkata. Key UPA ally DMK described the diesel price hike as ‘very high’ and sought a roll back. BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said the hike will have a cascading effect on prices and will contribute further to inflation. Diesel price hike will indirectly increase the cost of production of goods by 10 to 12 per cent. Wholesale rates of vegetables are likely to shoot up by the end of the month by 25 to 30 per cent. With diesel prices going up, transportation companies are likely to increase their freight rates too.