New Delhi: The government has no immediate
plans to raise petrol and diesel prices even though raw
material costs have surged to their highest level this year,
Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said today.
"There is no proposal (to raise fuel prices) under
consideration at present," he told reporters here.
The price of India's crude oil basket averaged USD 77.47
per barrel this month, up from USD 73.07 a barrel in October.
The Indian basket reached its highest level this year at USD
78.95 per barrel yesterday.
Pandey said the volatility in international oil prices
that had peaked to USD 147 per barrel in August last year
before dropping to USD 33 by year-end and then surging again,
are bad for developing nations like India.
State-run oil firms are losing Rs 3.85 per litre on
petrol, Rs 3.71 a litre on diesel, Rs 16.34 per litre on
kerosene sold through PDS and Rs 201.88 per 14.2 kg domestic
LPG cylinder due to firming up in international oil rates.
"I cannot say what will happen in the future, but right
now we are not considering (a price hike)," he said.
At the current rates, IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and
Hindustan Petroleum are projected to lose Rs 45,160 crore in
revenues on fuel sales this fiscal, he added.
The government had earlier this year decided to make good
all the revenue loss on sale of domestic LPG and kerosene
through issue of oil bonds, while the same on petrol and
diesel would be mostly met by upstream firms like OIL and
ONGC.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 18:36