Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday to work out a package on pricing of petrol and diesel, besides subsidies on kerosene and cooking gas before the month-end.
"We are in discussions with the finance ministry and hope that something will come out of it by the end of this month," Deora told reporters in New Delhi.
"We are trying to see that consumers, especially small consumers, are not burdened by rise in fuel prices," he added.
The petroleum ministry is in talks with the finance ministry based on the recommendations of the C Rangarajan committee, he said, adding that the panel's suggestions could not be incorporated in the Budget as it had submitted its report just a few days before the presentation of the budget.
The oil sector was expecting rationalisation of duties in the budget, as had been suggested by the Rangarajan Committee, to help retailing firms, which posted a net loss of Rs 2,898 crore (Rs 28.98 billion) in the first nine months of 2005-06 fiscal.
But the Budget neither hiked subsidies nor rationalised duties, although it did lower central sales tax on LPG.
The Rangarajan Committee had suggested a steep Rs 75 per cylinder raise in LPG price and a Rs 1.21 per litre increase in petrol and Rs 1.96 per litre hike in diesel prices.
On taxation, it had recommended a revenue neutral rationalisation, wherein customs duty on petrol and diesel was to be cut to 7.5 per cent from current 10 per cent.
It had also suggested changing excise duties on petrol and diesel (currently at 8 per cent plus Rs 13 a litre and 8 per cent plus Rs 3.25 per litre, respectively) to Rs 5 per litre on diesel and Rs 14.75 a litre on diesel.