The government is likely to announce a hike in fuel prices on Wednesday to bail out state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) that are suffering massive financial losses due to skyrocketing international crude prices. The decision will be first taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) scheduled for the morning and later ratified by the Cabinet. According to government sources, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to address the nation explaining the rationale behind the increase in prices. The address is still at the proposal stage and it will depend on his health as he has recently undergone a cataract operation, say the sources. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also heads the Group of Ministers (GoM) on fuel prices, said "We are still discussing the issue.' Talking to journalists at an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) meeting here, he did not say whether fuel price hike was on the agenda of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting. The sources said the CCPA would try to reach consensus on the quantum of hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and even cooking gas. Dr. Singh on Monday indicated the possibility of increasing fuel prices, saying consumers could not be fully insulated from the impact of rising global oil prices. However, the government has been in a fix on the issue and has failed to take any decision fearing opposition from the public as well as the Left parties which are offering outside support. The Left parties have warned of a nationwide protest against any move to raise the prices of fuel. They have instead argued in favour of restructuring the tax on petrol and diesel. Oil and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora has been asking for a hike of Rs.10 a litre of petrol, Rs.5 a litre of diesel and Rs. 50 for an LPG cylinder. The sources said this would be a "moderate' hike despite a highly volatile global market. The OMCs have so far reported losses of over Rs. 2.25-lakh crore due to the high crude prices and in the absence of revision in the domestic retail prices. They have said they will run out of cash to import crude if the government fails to bail them out. The OMCs have been incurring a loss of Rs. 21.43 on sale of every litre of petrol since June 1. Similarly, the loss on diesel is Rs. 31.58 and kerosene Rs. 35.98. Losses on LPG have swelled to Rs. 352.90 a cylinder.