Petrol price may hike to Rs 3 per litre

NEW DELHI: The staterun oil marketing companies may decide to hike petrol prices by at least Rs 3 per litre, in their scheduled meeting on Saturday to cover part of the spike in cost of raw material. If the oil companies decide to hike prices, the new rates would be effective from midnight tonight. “We are losing Rs 6.43 per litre on petrol and after adding 20 percent sales tax, the desired increase in rates in Delhi is Rs 7.72 per litre,” a senior oil company offi cial said. “We understand that it will be diffi cult to raise rates by Rs 7.72 per litre in one go but a Rs 3 or even Rs 4 a litre increase is feasible,” he said. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) use fortnightly average of benchmark oil price and exchange rate to fi x the price to be paid to refi neries on 1st and 16th of every month. If the changes do not refl ect in retail selling price, they become losses in the books of oil fi rms. The international price of gasoline (against which domestic petrol prices are benchmarked) have risen from USD 109 a barrel at the time of last revision in December 2011 to USD 133-134 per barrel. Oil fi rms had last revised dates on December 1 when rates were cut by Rs 0.78 per litre. Petrol at IOC pumps in Delhi is currently priced at Rs 65.64 per litre and the rates vary by a couple of paise at the pumps of BPCL and HPCL. Petrol price was freed from government control in June 2010 but public sector companies continue to informally consult their parent Oil Ministry before taking a decision. “We are holding consultations,” the offi cial said, dropping hints that oil fi rms have so far not received a go ahead from the government for raising prices. Oil fi rms lost about Rs 4,500 crore this fi scal on selling petrol below cost. The government does not compensate them for this loss as petrol is a decontrolled commodity.