HMM News | Will petrol-diesel prices come down before the budget, know what Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said

Jan 23,2023

Hardeep Singh Puri on fuel prices: For the past 15 months, oil companies have not reduced oil prices in the country, for which Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has appealed for a price cut. But Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri sees little hope of that happening. Arriving at an event in Varanasi, Hardeep Singh Puri while appealing to oil companies said that if oil prices remain stable in the international market and the under-recovery of companies stops, oil prices should be reduced in India as well. .

Oil prices will not be reduced anytime soon

Along with this, he also expressed disappointment over state governments not reducing VAT on petroleum products. However, Hardeep Singh Puri does not see any reduction in oil prices before the budget or in the near future. Hardeep Singh Puri believes that given the past losses of state-owned oil companies, there is no expectation of a cut in petrol prices anytime soon. Three public sector oil companies – IOC, BPCL and HPCL have suffered huge losses due to non-increase in prices commensurate with consumption.

It may be noted that the pressure on companies has eased due to fall in international crude oil prices in the past few months, but they have not cut petrol and diesel prices to cover earlier losses. He said that despite the jump in crude oil prices after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, oil companies have behaved responsibly and have not raised retail prices, but buying crude oil at higher prices has increased their costs.

21,201 crores of losses are faced by oil companies

He said, ‘We expect the price to go down once the losses are overcome. We did not ask them to keep the price fixed. He took this decision himself. Keeping prices constant, these companies posted a total loss of Rs 21,201.18 crore in the first half of the current financial year. This loss has not yet been recovered.

By the end of June 2022, he faced a loss of Rs 17.4 per liter on petrol and Rs 27.2 per liter on diesel. While Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) last revised petrol and diesel prices on April 6, 2022.