State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) are likely to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by 40 paisa a litre from November 1, 2022, as the price of international crude oil fell, CNBC TV18 reported.
The reduction in prices by 40 paisa daily is likely to continue for the next five days and a total reduction of ₹2 in petrol and diesel prices in instalments, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.
When the retail price of petrol rose to ₹109.7 as on 1 Nov 2022, the government gave relief to the consumers, for the first time in over three years by reducing the duty on petrol from ₹32.9/lt to ₹27.9/lt.
Since then, the rate of revision has been paused due to elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh. After that, state-owned oil firms finally ended a 137-day hiatus in rate revision on March 22.
Petrol and diesel prices rose by ₹10 per litre between March 22 and April 6—the highest-ever increase during a 16-day period since fuel prices were deregulated two decades back.
In May 2022, the rates were reduced after the government cut the excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹8/litre and ₹6/litre, respectively.
Meanwhile, the three state-owned firms — Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp — posted a combined loss of ₹18,480 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal due to erosion in the marketing margin on petrol, diesel, and domestic LPG, according to a PTI report.
In Q2FY23, IOC reported a consolidated net loss of ₹991.5 crore for the second consecutive quarter. This is the first time that IOC has booked losses in two straight quarters-all because it sold petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) at rates below cost.
The loss in the second quarter of the current fiscal was despite accounting for ₹10,801 crore of one-time grant that the government had announced on October 12.
On October 12, the government extended a one-time grant of ₹22,000 crore to three state-owned fuel retailers to cover the losses they incurred on selling domestic cooking gas LPG below cost for two years starting June 2020.
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