Another Fuel Price Hike on the Cards?
Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Nov 1: If state-owned companies have their way, the country will be in for yet another hike in petrol prices soon.
Forced to make good the losses on petrol, the companies are pushing for a hike of Rs 1.82 per litre.
The price of petrol was last hiked in September, by Rs 5 per litre, by public sector oil firms.
The call for a price hike comes in the wake of rupee depreciation and hardening of crude oil prices. The oil refining and marketing firm posted a quarterly loss of Rs 33.6 billion on Tuesday November 1.
"From today, there are some losses on petrol. To cover them, we may have to increase prices," HPCL director (finance) B Mukherjee told reporters.
He further said that the price of crude oil is at around USD 108 per barrel in international markets, and that the rupee has depreciated from Rs 46.50 a dollar three months ago to over Rs 49 per dollar now, thus increasing the cost of oil imports.
He said that currently, companies are suffering a loss of Rs 1.50 per litre on petrol, excluding local taxes. To make good the loss, a hike of Rs 1.82 per litre is needed.
"We are in discussion with other oil companies on raising prices," he said.
However, he did not mention when the hike was likely to be implemented, however, sources said it may happen in a fortnight or so.