OMCs' losses widen on subsidised LPG, kerosene

Daily underrecoveries of oil marketing companies (OMCs) on subsidised sales of domestic cooking gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene have jumped 33 per cent to Rs 188 crore in the current fortnight that began on November 1, against the previous fortnight.

The three OMCs — Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd — are now losing Rs 27.60 on sale of every litre of kerosene and Rs 393.50 on each 14.2-kg LPG cylinder, a petroleum ministry statement said. The statement said the losses were lower than the Rs 31.22 a litre loss the oil firms incurred on sale of kerosene and Rs 404.64 a cylinder in the second half of October.  

The ministry did not explain how the combined underrecoveries on the two fuels were rising even as daily losses have come down. The OMCs registered overall underrecoveries of Rs 51,110 crore in the first half of current financial year against Rs 139,869 crore in 2013-14.