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The loss on sales of diesel has been trimmed by more than Re 1 to Rs 7.16 per litre on the back of softening international oil rates.
Public sector oil firms Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp are losing Rs 7.16 on every litre of diesel sold in the second fortnight of March, down from Rs 8.37 a litre in the first half of the month, an official statement issued here said.
The basket of crude oil that India buys has dropped to $105.36 per barrel from $106.18.
Losses have also been trimmed because of the monthly increases of 50 paise a litre of diesel, excluding local sales tax or VAT. Since January 2013, diesel rates have risen by a cumulative Rs 8.33.
Besides diesel, oil firms are losing Rs 36.34 per litre on kerosene sold through the public distribution system, up from Rs 35.76 a litre last month. On cooking gas (LPG), the revenue loss or under-recovery has come down to Rs 605.80 per 14.2-kg cylinder from Rs 655.96 in February.
Oil marketing companies are now incurring a combined daily under-recovery of Rs 399 crore on the sale of diesel, PDS kerosene and domestic LPG compared with Rs 411 crore daily during the previous fortnight, the statement said.
The three firms had together lost Rs 1,00,632 crore on the sale of the three products in April-December and may end the financial year with a total under-recovery of about Rs 1,40,000 crore. This compares with an under-recovery of Rs 1,61,029 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 1,38,541 crore in the previous fiscal.
The statement said during the current financial year, oil firms lost Rs 47,655 crore on sale of diesel at rates lower than cost and another Rs 30,604 crore on domestic LPG. They incurred an under-recovery of Rs 22,373 crore on the sale of kerosene, it added.
