HYDERABAD: With the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee set to meet Friday, speculation is rife of an imminent hike in prices of diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and even kerosene.If you are stunned by the petrol price hike of `7.50 a litre, switching to diesel cars is probably not a good idea as oil companies are reportedly pushing for an increase in diesel price by `5. Under the circumstances, a not so popular trend, carpooling, could be a viable option, believe several people.“Another hike in petrol prices is not at all fair. I think there is a 60 per cent chance of a future price hike. It’s time to switch to public transport or just carpool as I am planning to. One has to spend just half the money when compared to the previous expenditure and not compromise on comfort,” points out Hari Prasad, an MBA student.Trikala Satya, a marketing professional, who has been carpooling to work for a while, says, “my friend and I carpool every alternate day. He gets his bike or I take my car and we travel about 15 km one way to work. We live close by.” Even Satya’s dad adopted the same idea. “With investment on petrol every month increasing, my dad also believes in carpooling. He and his friends car pool every week. They’re about four people, who live around the same building. Their workplaces are nearby and so they rotate the driving duty one every week,” he adds.Srinivas Avva, an IT employee from Cognizant, and his colleagues too are planning pick up points to travel together to work. “My group of friends and I have listed four pick up points, from where one of my friends will pick us up in his car. All I have to do is just walk for about five minutes to the stop. This saves a lot of money and is definitely more efficient,” he explains.
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