NEW DELHI: Petrol prices crossed Rs 100 per liter in the capital on Monday after state-owned oil companies implemented the fourth hike in retail fuel prices in 11 days, raising petrol prices by another Rs 2.61 lakh to Rs 102.12 per liter to cut losses from selling auto fuel below market cost.
Petrol price crossed Rs 100 last time in October 2021, when it crossed Rs 106.Diesel prices rose by Rs 2.71 to Rs 95.20 per litre. The cumulative increase in petrol and diesel prices in Delhi now stands at Rs 7.35 and Rs 7.53 per litre, respectively. The government said the cumulative backlog of petrol, diesel and LPG is now just below Rs 600 crore per day, indicating the possibility of further hikes. After the first hike of Rs 3 per liter on May 15 amid the current geopolitical situation that has disrupted energy supply and led to a global rise in crude oil prices, the government said the recovery shortfall has come down by 25% to Rs 750 crore per day.
Oil companies still lose Rs 600 crore daily: Govt
In Mumbai, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the price increase, saying it was a market-driven review by oil marketing companies in response to rising global crude oil prices. She said the government has protected consumers for 75 days or so to the tune of over Rs 1 lakh crore annually by reducing excise duty by Rs 10 per litre.The price of a liter of petrol in Mumbai is now Rs 111.21, while diesel is priced at Rs 97.83. In Chennai, petrol costs Rs 107.77 per liter and diesel Rs 99.55, while in Kolkata, petrol costs Rs 113.51 per liter and diesel Rs 99.82.
The amount of the increase varies with different VAT structures across states.Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum, said that the rise in global crude oil prices affected all countries, but the impact on India was less because the losses were absorbed by the government and oil companies.“Globally, the increase in petrol prices is 22% and diesel 27%, but it is much lower in India – 7.7% on petrol and 8.6% on diesel.
Before the price hike, the government took all possible measures. “I have reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and the impact on the exchequer is Rs 14,000 crore per annum,” she said, adding that excise duty has been reduced by Rs 21 on petrol and Rs 24 on diesel since 2021.“Despite these steps, OMCs were losing Rs 1,000 crore daily, which came down to less than Rs 600 crore after the hikes.”Justifying these increases, Sharma said that the profits made by the three state-run asset management companies in the last fiscal year will be erased by the losses incurred in the current fiscal quarter only.