After a steep hike in the prices of commercial LPG cylinders and jet fuel, petrol and diesel may be the next in line.
An increase in retail fuel prices in the near future is not ruled out by the government and oil marketing companies, according to a report by the Press Trust of India citing official sources.
The indication of a possible price hike comes after the government raised the costs of commercial LPG cylinders and jet fuel on Friday, just days after the conclusion of the voting process in four states in the country.
The cost of a 19 kg LPG cylinder has been raised by Rs 993, to now cost Rs 3,071.50 in Delhi. The cost of a 5 kg LPG cylinder has also been raised by Rs 261.
The cost of aviation turbine fuel has also been increased by about 5.3 percent. For international airline companies, the fuel will cost $1,511.86 per kilolitre, while domestic airline companies will remain shielded from the price hike.
Last week, Kotak Institutional Equities had said that oil marketing companies may raise the prices of petrol and diesel by up to Rs 28 per litre in a staggered manner.
The government had denied considering any proposal of raising prices of petrol and diesel. It had called such reports ‘fake news’.
“There are some news reports suggesting a price hike in petrol and diesel. It is hereby clarified that there is no such proposal under consideration by the government. Such news items are designed to create fear and panic among citizens and are mischievous and misleading,” the oil ministry had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
However, an oil ministry official had reportedly said that oil companies were facing a loss of about Rs 20 per litre on current petrol prices. The loss on diesel was much higher at Rs 100 per litre.
Though the official denied any plans of raising fuel prices that may burden the general public.
