Petrol Prices Might Increase by Rs 3

India has been constantly seeing a rise in petrol prices, in fact Indian oil marketing companies gave it a hike in the very last month only. Now the latest news coming in is that, we might soon see the next round of petrol price hike, and this time around it will be about Rs 3 a litre after the Parliament's monsoon session, which means the first week of September. However Government has not commented on this yet, but the petrol has already been deregulated, and oil prices have every right to increase the prices according to the international trend.

The reason justified by oil marketing companies is the increase in crude oil prices internationally due to which they are bearing a loss of Rs 3/litre on selling the petrol. Speaking to TOI, a director on the board of a Mumbai-based Oil retailer said, "It's true that we are losing money on petrol, a deregulated product, and the hike is imminent. When and by how much? I can't say. It's just a matter of time," said an official of a leading OMC, adding that the timing will depend on the government nod. "The nod is unlikely come before the monsoon session of Parliament ends as the government is battling out the 'Coalgate' crisis,"

One more board member of an oil PSU said, "We have started losing over Rs 3 per litre on the sale of petrol. The government is not going to compensate for this loss, petrol being a de-regulated commodity, and the CAG will hold us liable for this loss because of our failure to increase prices,"

He further adds, "we will request the government to make it a regulated commodity or give us a free hand to increase the prices". In the year 2011-12, oil marketing companies has suffered under-realization of Rs 4,900 crore on sale of Petrol in the country.

K Ravichandran, Sr. VP Co-head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA said "Despite the latest revision in the prices of petrol in May 2012, the OMCs are still incurring losses. Given the politically sensitive nature of petrol pricing, the government intervention is expected to continue,"

Source: TOI

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