Another hike in petrol prices on cards, says HPCL

A further hike in petrol prices is around the corner, as Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) finance director B Mukherjee clearly indicated today. The hike could be in the order of Rs1.82 per litre, he told newspersons in New Delhi today. He said he would discuss the matter with the other state-owned oil retailers - Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Ltd (BP).

He said the oil marketing companies were incurring "some losses on petrol" as the fall in the rupee has increased the cost of imported crude oil. Crude prices are hovering around $108 per barrel in international markets. At the current exchange rate, the ruling petrol price of Rs66.84 per litre in Delhi corresponds to about $102 per barrel equivalent of crude oil price.

Since petrol prices were 'deregulated' from government control in June last year, petrol prices have been hiked several times by various margins. The three retailers last hiked petrol prices by Rs3.14 a litre on 16 September.

Meanwhile, prices of diesel, still under government control, have been hiked only marginally. At the same time, petrol prices have not moved up quite in line with costs, as the petroleum ministry still controls them indirectly since all three retailers are state-owned.

Mukherjee did not say when petrol price would be hiked. "We are in consultations," he said. "Let's say we are toying with the idea. It may happen. We will see."

Besides petrol, the three firms are losing Rs333 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. They lose Rs9.27 per litre on diesel, Rs26.94 per litre on kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS) and Rs260.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder of LPG or cooking gas.