Govt must allow cos to sell crude at market rate: Cairn India

The recent weakness in crude prices has hit upstream companies. Mayank Ashar, CEO of Cairn India tells CNBC-TV18's Nayantara Rai that they cannot make money in today's crude price regime if the government does not cut the cess levy soon."The government was wrong to be quick to adjust the excise tax as the crude prices came down, but they should have adjusted cess a lot sooner; we have been asking for a break on cess ever since the oil prices have started to come down from USD 100 per barrel--more than 14 months" he says.Ashar asks the government to allow the companies to sell crude at market rate. "The government should move on the fair pricing of our crude which today, is discounted by 25 percent to Brent; so, hopefully these changes can happen in the Budget or even sooner," he adds.Watch video for more