BPCL, HPCL rally on diesel price hike hopes
The government is contemplating raising diesel prices by Rs 1 per litre each month for next 10 months to bring retail rates at par with their cost.
State-owned oil marketing companies like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL),Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have rallied up to 6% in noon deals on hopes of hike in diesel price by Re 1 per month.
Most of these stocks have rallied 10-15% in past one week on the BSE as compared to around 2% rise in benchmark Sensex on reports that the government is contemplating raising diesel prices by Rs 1 per litre each month for next 10 months to bring retail rates at par with their cost.
"The Kelkar Committee, which was appointed by the Finance Ministry to suggest a roadmap for fiscal consolidation, has suggested an immediate hike in fuel prices and complete deregulation of diesel prices by the start of fiscal 2014-15. It has also suggested raising kerosene and LPG rates," PTI reported.
Among the individual stocks, HPCL has rallied 6% to Rs 333, followed by BPCL (up 5.3% at Rs 393) and IOC (up 3.2% at Rs 290) on the Bombay Stock Exchange. ONGC and OIL India, the state-owned oil and gas companies, are also trading higher by 1-2% at 1231 hours.