THE fuel price imbroglio continued on Thursday even as crude oil prices held firm at around $130 a barrel. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has now stepped in to take a final call on the price hike after the finance and petroleum ministries failed to reach a consensus on both the quantum of the hike and extent of duty reductions. The prime minister, who held two rounds of meetings on Thursday with senior Cabinet colleagues, including petroleum minister Murli Deora, finance minister P Chidambaram, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, also met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi late in the evening to decide on the price issue. As is known, any decision on fuel prices will be a political one as it has a huge impact on the electorate. The Karnataka election defeat and surging inflation have made it all the more difficult for the UPA government to effect a steep fuel price hike. The Cabinet meeting, scheduled to be held on Thursday evening, has now been set for Friday. While the spiralling inflation and fiscal deficit pressures are the main worries for the FM, averting a fuel crisis appears to be Mr Deora's aim. PSU oil companies, who have been selling fuel at controlled prices, can no longer meet the growing demand, given their paucity of funds. The Cabinet may consider on Friday a comprehensive package, including raising prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Sources said the finance ministry is unwilling to accept the oil ministry's proposals of any major excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel and scrap the 5% ad valorem Customs duty on crude oil. Oil ministry seeks combine of measures UNABLE to arrive at a consensus, the oil ministry later modified its demand to a 50% reduction in excise duty and converting ad valorem Customs duty structure into specific duty. The oil ministry's argument is that the government should not take advantage of rising global crude oil prices through ad valorem duty, specially when over 75% of domestic crude oil needs are met through imports. Though the finance ministry has agreed for a marginal duty change, the oil ministry says the situation would go beyond repair unless a combine of measures is taken. The suggestions include enhancing liquidity and attractiveness of oil bonds through according statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) status, enhancing credit limits of three oil companies