Impact of lockdown: Petrol-diesel prices

Profit per liter for companies reduced from Rs 12-18 to Rs 4-5 due to increase in excise duty by the government

Oil marketing companies may hike petrol-diesel prices by up to Rs 5 a liter during June to offset losses during the lockdown. Apart from that, the companies are also preparing to resume the system of daily change in prices from next month.

According to oil companies, the government has also increased taxes along with lower sales in the lockdown, leaving a huge gap between price and sales.

According to a report by official sources in the state-owned Oil Marketing Company (OMC), all the retail oil dealers met last week to review the current situation and work out a roadmap to start daily adjustment of petrol-diesel prices after the lockdown.

If the lockdown is extended for the fifth time, the system will be implemented with the approval of the government. Companies have suffered huge losses due to the sharp decline in sales over the last two months.

Brent crude rose 50% to 30% a barrel from a month earlier, a state-owned oil company official said. If this situation continues, the current prices of petrol and diesel will start declining from June, so the price will have to be increased by 40-50 paise per day.

Prices will rise for two consecutive weeks

According to the companies, the gap between the price of petrol and diesel is already Rs 4-5 per liter, so in these circumstances, global prices will have to be increased by 40-50 paise per day for two consecutive weeks to offset the losses. However, raising petrol-diesel prices beyond certain limits will not be allowed.

Companies will be able to increase the price of petroleum products by 20-40 paise or less per day until they are able to bridge the gap between price and sales.

Haphazard tax hike by the governmen

According to oil marketing companies, sales fell by 90 percent during the lockdown. However, the sharp fall in global prices has helped offset losses. But as the government increased excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and Rs 13, respectively, the company's profit per liter fell from Rs 12-18 to Rs 4-5. Since then, crude has become more expensive in the global market, which has increased the pressure on prices