Oil Minister rules out any possibility of deregulating diesel prices

14 Feb 2012 Evaluate

The Oil Minister, S Jaipal Reddy has firmly ruled out any possibility of deregulating diesel prices in the near future. Reddy has also supported the demand made by oil companies to the government to compensate the losses incurred by them because of not increasing prices of petrol in view of the upcoming elections. 

Currently diesel prices are regulated by the government. If deregulated, as was done in the case of petrol in June 2010, the oil companies will need to raise diesel price by Rs 11.35 per litre. This could impact inflation numbers as diesel is widely used in commercial transport.

The rates of petrol have also not been able to move in tandem with imported costs, even after deregulation.  Internationally, the price of crude oil has been climbing in recent months on tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme but companies have been unable to adjust retail prices due to crucial assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh. Petrol pricing even though fixed by oil companies, still requires government approval. Currently state-owned oil firms are losing Rs 3-3.20 per litre. IOC has lost about Rs 443 crore since the last revision in petrol price on December 1.  Apart from petrol, oil companies are making losses on kerosene, diesel and LPG, the prices of which are set by the government.

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