The Petroleum Ministry is not getting drawn into whether or not there will be a cut in the prices of petrol and diesel. According to the ministry, the global situation, particularly that prevailing in the Red Sea still needs a careful watch.
"I am not going to say that there won't be or there is or there can't be. Tomorrow if the Red Sea attack takes place, then the fourth quarter may wipe out whatever you have in the first three," Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said while responding to a CNBC-TV18 query.
Oil marketing companies have suffered losses worth over ₹30,000 crore due to a freeze in fuel prices since April 2022 and due to continued under recoveries on diesel.
"The most important part in this is that it has to be very coolly thought through. When the OMCs lost ₹30,000 crore, we still have not compensated them," the minister said, adding that these companies are still incurring under recoveries on diesel, which the industry estimates to be anywhere between ₹3 to ₹5 per litre.
However, the minister also mentioned that if oil prices remain the same, then the proposal can be looked at as time goes on. "When the occasion is ripe, I am sure that can also be looked at. Here, prices are already stable or coming down," Puri said.
In back to back actions on gas pricing, the government nudged city gas distributors to pass on lower CNG and PNG prices to consumers last week, which was also followed by the oil marketing companies reducing LPG cylinder prices for consumers across the board.
To make the price action come full circle , speculation is now rife on oil marketing companies lowering fuel prices. Any decision on this front is unlikely to involve further tax cuts, at least for now. Government sources have told CNBC-TV18, there is "no proposal" for an excise cut on petrol, diesel.
(Edited by : Hormaz Fatakia)
