State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have rallied up to 8% in noon deals after the government has partially deregulated diesel prices. The price hike decisions have been left to the oil marketing companies.
The government also raised the cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders (LPG) from six a year to nine.
OMCs are currently losing Rs 9 per litre on the sale of diesel at a subsdised price. This amounts to an Rs 94,000 annual loss on subsidised diesel.
Among individual stocks, HPCL has rallied 8% to Rs 353, followed by IOC (up 6% at Rs 313) and BPCL (up 5.5% at Rs 403) on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
ONGC and OIL India, among other state-owned oil and gas companies are also trading higher by 4% each at Rs 316 and Rs 515 respectively at 1347 hours.