Diesel price to rise 50p/month; LPG cylinder cap set at 9/year
The government on Thursday allowed state-run oil marketers to raise diesel prices in “small quantities” over several months till their under-recoveries on sale of the fuel are eliminated, but raised the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders to 9. The diesel price “deregulation”, if implemented in earnest, can help reduce the oil subsidy burden to a large extent — OMCs’ under-recovery on diesel is R9.60/litre or an estimated R98,000 crore this fiscal — while hiking the number of subsidised LPG refills will result in additional under-recoveries of R9,300 crore.
The government has asked OMCs to hike diesel prices by 50 paise per litre monthly from Friday, Reuters reported, quoting an official source. This would mean that it would take about 20 months for the subsidy on the fuel to be nullified, given the current level of under-recoveries. The government also freed the pricing of bulk diesel, which would reduce the subsidy on the fuel by 18%.
“As far as diesel is concerned, oil marketing companies have been authorised to make price corrections from time to time,” oil minister Veerappa Moily said after a Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs meeting, adding, “It (price correction) can commence even from today.” The minister did not elaborate on the quantum of price hikes or the periodicity, but the Kelkar panel had recommended diesel price hike of R1-1.50/litre per month. The CCPA obviously sought to be politically savvy by combining the two decisions.
Oil companies were cautious on hailing the decision, given their disappointing experience with a
