After 4 rounds of fuel price hike, oil marketing companies ‘losing around Rs 600 cr per day: Ministry of (MoPNG), Sujata Sharma

The four rounds of petrol and diesel price hike, totalling about Rs 7.5 per litre, have trimmed the losses state-owned oil firms were incurring from selling fuel below cost to close to Rs 600 crore per day, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said on Monday.The Centre has forgone nearly Rs 14,000 crore in tax revenue after reducing excise duty on petrol and diesel to shield consumers from rising fuel prices triggered by the West Asia crisis, said Sujata Sharma on Monday.The government had cut central excise duty by Rs 10 per litre on both petrol and diesel on March 27, following a sharp rise in global crude oil prices due to tensions in West Asia. “West Asia crisis, our imports are affected, like 40% of our crude import, 90% of our LPG import and almost 65% of our natural gas import, but all efforts have been made to ensure the smooth supplies of petroleum products within the country,” Sujata Sharma said.She said the government’s duty reduction has come at a high fiscal cost, even as oil marketing companies (OMCs) continue to face losses.