New Delhi, May 15: Oil companies are likely to increase the prices of petrol and diesel following surge in prices in the international market. As per reports, an increase of up to three rupees per litre for petrol and diesel is expected. International oil prices have risen from USD 36 to USD 40 per barrel, forcing oil companies to bear a deficit of thousands of crores of rupees.
While international prices have been edging upwards for a while now, Indian oil companies were forced to leave prices unchanged as elections were round the corner and the outgoing government did not want an unpopular decision to be taken during its tenure. With elections over, there would be little stopping the oil companies now. However, there is speculation that the price rise may not be as sharp as the oil companies would like. It may be closer to the Re 1mark per litre instead for both the fuels.
Bureau Report