Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) India’s three oil marketing companies (OMCs) have decided to reduce petrol prices by a minimum of Rs.2.46 a litre, depending on states’ sales taxes, from midnight, it was announced here Thursday.

“The downward revision shall vary from Rs.2.46 per litre to Rs.3.22 per litre including state levies, depending upon the state taxes,” Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) said in the statement.

In Delhi, the price decrease will be Rs.2.46 per litre.

The decrease in other states would vary depending upon the respective rates of state VAT or sales tax.

In Delhi, the revised price for a litre of petrol would be Rs.67.78, in Mumbai it would be Rs.73.35 while in Chennai it would be Rs.72.27.

The revised price in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore will be Rs.72.74, Rs.74.89 and Rs.76.39 a litre.

On June 2, the three OMCs cut petrol prices by Rs.1.68 a litre.

The three OMCs - IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. - raised petrol rates by Rs.6.28 a litre, excluding state taxes, the steepest hike in recent memory, to offset the growing losses caused by subsidised rates, rise in the international oil price and a plunging rupee.

India imports nearly 80 percent of its crude requirements around $160-170 billion annually.

The high cost of imported fuel is partly blamed for the ballooning Indian current account deficit — the gap between exports and goods and services imports — to its widest level in eight years.

IOC said that it suffered a loss of Rs.1,053 crore by selling petrol at cheap rates during the first two months of 2012-13 fiscal, due to its inability to revise prices in line with rising crude prices and eroding value of rupee against the dollar.

“During current fiscal, the corporation (IOC) has already accumulated losses of Rs.1,053 crore (while the three OMCs have lost Rs.2,323 crore) on MS (motor spirit or petrol) sales during the first two months due to inability of OMCs to revise MS prices,” IOC added.

IOC estimated that under-recovery on sale of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, the three items whose pricing remains with government, during 2012-13 will be around Rs.83,000 crore for the company and Rs.151,000 crore for the three OMCs together.

“As compared with the last price change (June 11) current under-recovery on diesel has gone up from Rs.6.13 per litre to Rs.10.20 per litre, for kerosene from Rs.24.16 per litre to Rs.30.53 per litre and for cooking gas from Rs.331.13 per cylinder to Rs.396.00 per cylinder as on June 16,” the statement said.