With polling finally over, oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Monday announced a hike in the prices of diesel by Rs. 1.09 a litre (excluding State taxes).
Effective Monday midnight, diesel prices in Delhi will go up by Rs. 1.22 a litre, including taxes, to Rs. 56.71; while in Mumbai it would now cost Rs. 65.21, Kolkata Rs. 61.38 and Chennai Rs. 60.50.
Last month, the OMCs skipped increasing diesel price as their losses fell below Rs. 6 per litre. But now these firms say that their loss had gone up to Rs. 6.80. Meanwhile, the value of crude has also gone up, forcing the oil firms to go for a price hike. These companies will lose Rs. 5.71 a litre even after the hike.
In a statement, the Indian Oil Corporation, said the Centre on January 17, 2013 authorised oil companies to increase the retail selling price of diesel within a small range every month. “Since then, retail diesel prices have been revised every month. As a sequel to the under-recovery on diesel having fallen below Rs. 6 a litre, the Petroleum Ministry referred the matter to the Election Commission on March 31. Accordingly, the OMCs did not increase prices of diesel on April 1 and May 1. As the proposed change has not been accepted by the Election Commission, the OMCs have increased the price,” it added.
