Oil minister: India needs to know how long fuel retailers will be able to sustain losses.
Hardeep Singh Puri, the oil minister, said that India would at some point need to assess how long it can continue selling fuels below market prices.
The Middle East conflict has disrupted the supply of petrol and diesel, but governments have kept pump prices low to protect consumers from inflation.
Sujata Sharma, joint secretary at the Oil Ministry, said earlier that India has no plans to compensate oil companies for their?losses.
Sharma, who spoke last month, said that fuel retailers lose about 100 rupees (1.06 dollars) per litre of diesel and around 20 rupees (?rupees) per litre of petrol.
India is the third largest oil importer in the world. It imports more than 90% of its crude oil and half of its natural-gas needs.
Since April 2022, Indian state fuel retailers, such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum (HPL) and Bharat Petroleum (BHP), which account for the majority of fuel sales in India, haven't raised the price of gasoline or diesel.
Separately, a senior government official said that compensating oil marketers while maintaining fuel prices at the same level is not fiscally viable.
One official said that any increase in petrol or diesel prices would be significant enough to deter consumers from buying them, but not large enough to cause inflation to rise sharply.
Due to the sensitive nature of the issue, both?officials spoke under condition of anonymity.
Puri, the oil minister, said that India had enough crude and liquefied gas to last 60 days and 45 days of liquefied petroleum.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Sunday for a series of?measures, including fuel conservation and work-from home practices as well as limits on travel and imported goods to reduce pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The balance of payments is expected to worsen during the current fiscal year 2026-2027, with a projected deficit between $66 billion and $70 billion. This compares to an estimated $26 to $28 billion for 2025-2026. (Reporting and writing by Neha Arora, Editing by YP Rajesh & Muralikumar Anathharaman).
(source: Reuters)
