Fuel bills may not rise just yet
Consumers who would have had to pay higher fuel bills following the recent surge in crude oil and product prices, may be spared the retail price hike as politicos have got into the act of lobbying at all levels to resist any revision in prices.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Politicos are set to come to the rescue of fuel consumers yet again. Consumers who would have had to pay higher fuel bills following the recent surge in crude oil and product prices, may be spared the retail price hike as politicos have got into the act of lobbying at all levels to resist any revision in prices.
Crude oil prices (Indian basket) on Wednesday breached the $70 mark, and if this trend continues for long, an automatic price revision by the oil cos is imminent, according to the new policy approved last month.
But political intervention at the highest level has begun even before the oil cos can make a case for price revision. Oil companies are losing almost Rs 6 a litre on diesel, about Rs 4 a litre on petrol and over Rs 17 a litre on kerosene as per the new trade parity prices.
“Although prices can be hiked only if increased global prices are sustained for a while, there is enough pressure building against any such move. We are incurring huge losses on the sale of fuels and even on trade parity basis; the oil cos are bleeding,” a senior official of an oil co said.
Inflationary trends
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Petroleum minister Murli Deora said, “There is no question whatsoever on rising prices.” Fuel prices are also being monitored because of the inflationary trends in the economy and a price hike would be resisted by all means, sources said. But the political intervention would go directly against a Cabinet decision last month which gave oil cos the freedom to revise prices if and when the Indian basket crude prices breached $70 a barrel and sustained at that level for a period, besides meeting conditionality of tallying product price changes.
Over the last fortnight, although crude prices have averaged around $67 a barrel, product prices have been much higher than was mandated to bring in a change in the domestic retail price.
Oil companies have been in touch with the petroleum ministry but they are awaiting a special mechanism to bring about the changes in the retail prices.
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