No plans to regulate petrol prices - oil ministry

The government has no plans now to regulate petrol prices, an oil ministry official said on Wednesday, as political unrest in Libya feeds fears of a supply squeeze.

Petrol prices in India are market-linked, but diesel, cooking gas and kerosene rates are set by the federal government, which partly compensates state oil firms for their losses when global crude oil prices increase.

"There is no plan to regulate petrol prices now, but there is a provision that if prices go to astronomically high levels then the government may intervene," Sudhir Bhargava, additional secretary in the oil ministry said.