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top official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry says the government needs to raise the price of subsidized fuel to strengthen the country’s energy security.

Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rudi Rubiandini said increasing it would level the playing field for other forms of power, like renewable energy, to compete with subsidized fuel. It would in turn encourage the development of renewable energy, he explained.

He said Indonesia had a variety of renewable energy that could not compete with the low price of subsidized gasoline.

The price of subsidized fuel, or Premium gasoline, is currently Rp 4,500 (49 US cents) per liter, while according to Rudi the proportional price would be about Rp 6,000.

“Indonesia is among only 20 countries in the world that has a fuel subsidy. In countries such as Vietnam and Thailand, fuel prices are between Rp 12,000 and Rp 14,000,” he told journalists at the ministry’s office in Jakarta on Friday.

“Now we can only wait to see whether the House will approve a price increase or not,” he said. “If necessary, I will answer to protests that are likely to come from many stakeholders.”

Rudi was referring to the House of Representatives, which he said had to support the government should the latter decide to raise the price.

The government has scheduled a meeting with the House for within the week, but only the 2013 state budget will be discussed and not the price of subsidized fuel, said Rudi.

He said so far neither the government nor the House had proposed any talks on a subsidized fuel price increase. Rudi said he was prepared to face any political turmoil should the President or the minister try to increase the price.

Increasing the subsidized fuel price has always been a politically charged issue, with incumbent presidents and lawmakers always failing to do so.

In this year’s state budget allocation, as much as Rp 225 trillion is earmarked for the energy subsidy, which accounts for 86.91 percent of total government subsidies for all sectors.

The energy subsidy is set to increase 21.77 percent to Rp 274.74 trillion in 2013.

Earlier this year, the government planned to raise subsidized fuel prices by one-third from Rp 4,500 to Rp 6,000 per liter due to an increasing state budget deficit.

However, the plan was shelved after the House opposed the proposal during the deliberation of the revised budget in March.

University of Indonesia (UI) public policy analyst Andrinof Chaniago said if the government wanted to once again to increase the price of subsidized fuel then it should have reasonable proposal.

“If it [the government] wants to raise the fuel price, then it should not come out with the amount of Rp 6,000. Many would protest,” he said.