No bailout for state-run oil companies for now, says Centre as West Asia crisis pushes up losses

The Centre on Monday ruled out any immediate bailout package for state-run oil companies despite losses linked to the ongoing West Asia crisis.

“There is no proposal for any support package to oil-marketing companies right now,” Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Union petroleum ministry, said during an inter-ministerial briefing in New Delhi.

The clarification came as concerns grew about under-recoveries, the gap between the cost of producing fuels such as petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas and their retail selling prices.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday that oil companies were facing under-recoveries of around Rs 2 lakh crore, with losses of up to Rs 1 lakh crore projected in the current quarter.

Puri said on social media that oil companies were purchasing crude oil, gas and LPG at elevated international prices while continuing to sell fuels at unchanged retail rates to shield consumers, leading to losses of up to Rs 1,000 crore a day.

He added that despite this “uninterrupted energy imports and supply” had been maintained.

Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Neeraj Mittal also said there was no shortage of fuel and no plan to introduce rationing, Deccan Herald reported.

Speaking at a business summit in Delhi he said the government had absorbed part of the price shock through measures...

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