ID :
34020
Fri, 12/05/2008 - 09:41
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http://m.oananews.org//node/34020
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Indian govt may cut petrol, diesel, LPG prices next week
New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) With the assembly polls in major states concluding, the Union government may slash petrol price next week by Rs 10 a litre, diesel by Rs 3 per litre and domestic LPG by Rs 20 per cylinder in line with fall in global oil prices.
"Polling in Rajasthan will end today (Thursday) and with
it electioneering in four major states. And so a revision in
fuel prices is likely to be taken to the Cabinet at its next
meeting scheduled on December 11," a government source said.
For the first time in three years, state-run Indian Oil,
Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are selling petrol at
a profit of Rs 14.89 a litre and diesel at Rs 3.03 per litre.
But they continue to lose Rs 17.26 on sale of every litre
of kerosene through public distribution system (PDS) and Rs
148.32 per 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder.
"The Congress-led coalition is keen on rolling back the
Rs 5 a litre hike in petrol, Rs 3 per litre increase in diesel
and Rs 50 per cylinder hike in LPG prices announced in June.
As oil firms continue to make losses on LPG, some of the
margins on petrol may be used to bring down the cooking fuel
price," the source said.
Polling in Jammu & Kashmir --one of the six states that
went to elections-- would end on December 24. "When even
Election Commission thought it appropriate to announce results
of the elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan and Mizoram (on December 8) without waiting for
polling in J&K, the government, too, is inclined to cut fuel
prices," he said.
State-run oil firms have seen margins turning into
positive zone from November 1 but the government did not want
to revise prices as the Model Code of Conduct for elections
was in place that bars it from making any announcement that
could be seen as appeasing voters.
Based on the average international oil price in the
second fortnight of November, the state-run firms earn a
margin of Rs 44 crore per day on petrol and Rs 42 crore a day
on diesel. They, however, lost Rs 66 crore a day on sale of
kerosene and Rs 29 crore per day on LPG.
The fall in international oil prices will result in lower
revenue loss on fuel sales this fiscal. IOC, BPCL and HPCL
will end the 2008-09 fiscal with Rs 109,190 crore revenue
loss, Rs 92,853 crore of which has already been accounted for
in the first half of the fiscal.
The source said the Cabinet may also consider a mechanism
to make good the losses oil firms have borne on selling fuel
below the cost.
IOC posted its largest ever net loss of Rs 7,047.13 crore
in July-September quarter. BPCL posted a net loss of Rs
2,625.17 crore in the second quarter on top of Rs 1,066.70
crore in April-June, while HPCL reported Rs 888.12 crore loss
in the first quarter and another Rs 3,218.92 crore in the
second quarter.
The state-run firms want the government to increase the
quantum of oil bonds they get as part of compensation for
selling fuel below cost.
The government compensates the three refiners for half of
their revenue loss on fuel sales by way of oil bonds. Another
one-third of the losses are met by companies like ONGC and OIL
by way of discounts on crude oil they sell to them.
However, this compensation was proving to be grossly
inadequate, sources said, pointing to the net losses posted by
the companies in July-September quarter. PTI ANZ
DEP
"Polling in Rajasthan will end today (Thursday) and with
it electioneering in four major states. And so a revision in
fuel prices is likely to be taken to the Cabinet at its next
meeting scheduled on December 11," a government source said.
For the first time in three years, state-run Indian Oil,
Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are selling petrol at
a profit of Rs 14.89 a litre and diesel at Rs 3.03 per litre.
But they continue to lose Rs 17.26 on sale of every litre
of kerosene through public distribution system (PDS) and Rs
148.32 per 14.2-kg domestic LPG cylinder.
"The Congress-led coalition is keen on rolling back the
Rs 5 a litre hike in petrol, Rs 3 per litre increase in diesel
and Rs 50 per cylinder hike in LPG prices announced in June.
As oil firms continue to make losses on LPG, some of the
margins on petrol may be used to bring down the cooking fuel
price," the source said.
Polling in Jammu & Kashmir --one of the six states that
went to elections-- would end on December 24. "When even
Election Commission thought it appropriate to announce results
of the elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan and Mizoram (on December 8) without waiting for
polling in J&K, the government, too, is inclined to cut fuel
prices," he said.
State-run oil firms have seen margins turning into
positive zone from November 1 but the government did not want
to revise prices as the Model Code of Conduct for elections
was in place that bars it from making any announcement that
could be seen as appeasing voters.
Based on the average international oil price in the
second fortnight of November, the state-run firms earn a
margin of Rs 44 crore per day on petrol and Rs 42 crore a day
on diesel. They, however, lost Rs 66 crore a day on sale of
kerosene and Rs 29 crore per day on LPG.
The fall in international oil prices will result in lower
revenue loss on fuel sales this fiscal. IOC, BPCL and HPCL
will end the 2008-09 fiscal with Rs 109,190 crore revenue
loss, Rs 92,853 crore of which has already been accounted for
in the first half of the fiscal.
The source said the Cabinet may also consider a mechanism
to make good the losses oil firms have borne on selling fuel
below the cost.
IOC posted its largest ever net loss of Rs 7,047.13 crore
in July-September quarter. BPCL posted a net loss of Rs
2,625.17 crore in the second quarter on top of Rs 1,066.70
crore in April-June, while HPCL reported Rs 888.12 crore loss
in the first quarter and another Rs 3,218.92 crore in the
second quarter.
The state-run firms want the government to increase the
quantum of oil bonds they get as part of compensation for
selling fuel below cost.
The government compensates the three refiners for half of
their revenue loss on fuel sales by way of oil bonds. Another
one-third of the losses are met by companies like ONGC and OIL
by way of discounts on crude oil they sell to them.
However, this compensation was proving to be grossly
inadequate, sources said, pointing to the net losses posted by
the companies in July-September quarter. PTI ANZ
DEP