The government will set up an expert group to advice on a viable and sustainable system of pricing petroleum products, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the Budget in parliament today.

''It is important to recognise that with almost three quarters of our oil consumption met through imports, domestic prices of petrol and diesel have to be broadly in sync with global prices of these items,'' he added.

Mukherjee said that the details about this expert group will be announced by the minister of petroleum and natural gas.

He also announced a reduction in the excise duty on petrol-driven trucks to 8 per cent from 20 per cent.

Specific component of excise duty applicable to large cars and utility vehicles of engine capacity of 2000 cc and above will be reduced to Rs15,000 per vehicle from Rs20,000 earlier, the Budget document said.

Mukherjee further said that with the recent find of natural gas in the KG Basin on the Eastern offshore, the indigenous production of natural gas is set to double with natural gas emerging as an important source of energy.