PM defends reforms, says money does not grow on trees

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended his government's fresh economic reforms, saying these were needed to boost investor confidence domestically and globally. The prime minister spoke on this issue hours after the Trinamool Congress quit his government over the decisions to hike diesel prices, cap the supply of cooking gas cylinders and allow FDI in multi-brand retail trade. He said that subsidy on petroleum products had grown enormously, and would have been over Rs 200,000 crore this year. and also said that  India had faced a similar situation in 1991 when nobody was willing to lend even small amounts of money. On the decision to limit to six the number of cooking gas cylinders a family can get in a year, the prime minister said almost half of our people ... actually use only six cylinders or less in the nation. Prime Minister said that a Rs.17 per litre hike in diesel price was needed to cover the losses and that the government only partially passed on the burden to the common people.