No plans to raise petrol price for now: IOC
State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has no current plans to raise petrol prices again, Chairman SV Narasimhan said on Wednesday, even though global crude prices are hovering near 28-month highs.
February 02, 2011 / 19:00 IST
State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has no current plans to raise petrol prices again, Chairman SV Narasimhan said on Wednesday, even though global crude prices are hovering near 28-month highs.
"We did two steep revisions one after the other ... current prices are very high," he told reporters.India deregulated petrol prices in June 2010 and since then companies have hiked them to try to keep pace with soaring international oil prices, which are now more than USD 100 per barrel.Fuel inflation in India is running in double digits and the worried government has decided to defer liberalising diesel prices to try to ease the pain for poorer voters and the huge and vocal agricultural sector.Narasimhan added that IOC's daily loss from selling other fuels, including diesel, at government-set rates was about Rs 185-190 crore (USD 41.7 million)The government's recent announcement of an Rs 8,000 crore handout to oil retailers to cushion the blow of selling below market prices would help IOC post a profit for the quarter ended December."Definitely with this support we will be showing profit (in the December quarter)," Narasimhan said.IOC's current revenue loss is Rs 8.20 on a litre of diesel, Rs 20.56 /litre on kerosene and Rs 356 on a 14.2 kg cylinder of cooking gas, he added.India's fuel retailers, which also include Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, last raised petrol prices in mid-January and before that in late December when they rose 5.6% -- the highest since June's liberalisation of the market. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
