After incurring a revenue loss of Rs 2,236 crore in 2011-12 on account of not being able to pass on increase in petrol prices to consumers, IndianOil Corp (IOC), the country’s biggest oil marketer, today urged the government to regulate petrol prices temporarily, so that the full loss could be compensated, or cut taxes on the fuel. Else, the company, along with Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, would raise petrol prices.
IOC urged the government to cut excise duty by Rs 8 (the current revenue loss) to Rs 6.78 per litre. It also demanded a cut in state-level taxes. State sales tax varies from 15 to 33 per cent (Rs 10.30 to Rs 18.74 per litre). The newly elected government in Goa had done away with the entire value-added tax on petrol to give consumers a relief of Rs 11 a litre. In June 2011, the central government had cut diesel excise duty from Rs 4.60 to Rs 2 a litre.
Since the last price cut of Rs 0.65 a litre in December last year, international petrol prices have gone up and stand at $132.45 a barrel in the current pricing period. This is much higher than the price of $109.03 a barrel at which IndianOil and the other two oil marketing companies, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, are selling petrol (excluding state levies), according to a company statement.
| PREPARING THE GROUND? State-run oil retailers have threatened to raise petrol prices sharply if the government does not compensate them for revenue losses on retail (per litre) | |
| Current petrol | Rs 65.64 price in Delhi |
| Desired price | Rs 75.24 (inclusive of taxes) |
| Last price increase | Rs 1.80 (on Nov 4, ‘11) |
| Specific excise duty | Rs 14.78 (includes 3% education cess) |
| VAT at 20% | Rs 10.94 |
| OMCs’ daily revenue | Rs 53 cr loss on petrol |
| FY12 revenue loss | Rs 4,869 cr on petrol |
The company’s inability to effect price increases during December 16, 2011 to March 31, 2012 has resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 1,036 crore (Rs 2,287 crore for the three companies together). “The under-recoveries suffered by IndianOil during 2011-12, due to its inability to pass the increase to consumers, has resulted in total under-recoveries of Rs 2,236 crore (Rs 4,859 crore for the three companies),” stated the company statement.
In the first fortnight of the current financial officer, IndianOil suffered under-recoveries of Rs 331 crore, while the three companies together had under-recoveries of Rs 745 crore.
The current situation, where oil companies have to import crude oil at $121.29 per barrel and sell at $109.03 per barrel, is not sustainable, and therefore, cannot continue. Continuation of such pricing would only impede the ability of the company to import crude oil and might affect product supply-demand balance, the statement said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its policy review on Tuesday also advocated raising gasoline retail prices. "It is imperative for macroeconomic stability that administered prices of petroleum products are increased to reflect their true costs of production," RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said.