The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in india has protested over a hike in fuel prices.

Marching on Parliament House, opposition protestors led demonstrations and disrupted parliament this week demanding that the government roll back the decision to raise fuel prices, saying it would only fuel inflation, which is already at nine percent.

The gasoline hike should take prices up by about six percent and diesel prices by about eight percent.

The Indian government has indicated it will push ahead with its decision to raise the prices to bring down the fiscal deficit, which is at a 16-year-high.

While India subsidises the prices of oil products such as gasoline, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene to protect poor people from sharp fluctuations in energy prices, economists have been calling for an end to these subsidies, saying consumers only use them to consume more petroleum products.