Oil marketing companies have raised fuel prices by Rs 7.50 per litre in the last two weeks amid rising crude oil prices in the international market.
The price hike has provided some relief to the companies, which were bearing losses of over Rs 1,000 crore per day before the increase.
According to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, government-owned oil marketing companies are still facing losses of Rs 550 crore every day even after repeated hikes in petrol and diesel prices.
“PSU OMCs are currently absorbing losses of around Rs 550 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG,” the ministry said in a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau on Wednesday.
The ministry indicated that the losses being faced by the companies have eased enough to avoid placing the full burden on retail consumers.
Under the direction of the government, and as a deliberate act of consumer protection during the ongoing West Asia disruption, the oil marketing companies have refrained from passing the full international price increase on to domestic retail consumers, it said.
“This cushion is intended for retail consumers: households, two-wheeler commuters, and farmers at the pump. It is not extended to industrial procurement, where pricing tracks international actuals as a matter of standing policy,” the ministry added.
The ministry also assured that there was no shortage of fuel anywhere in the country.
It said India has an installed refining capacity of 258.1 million tonnes per annum across 22 operational refineries.
While domestic consumption during the previous financial year stood at 243.2 million tonnes, India exported 61.5 million tonnes of petroleum products, making it one of the world’s largest exporters of refined products.
“The picture that emerges from the field is consistent. There is no scarcity of any petroleum product. There is, in pockets, a pattern of arbitrage that is creating the appearance of one,” the ministry said.
