Oil companies put petrol price changes in slow lane

Soon after the June 25 government decision to deregulate petrol prices, the oil companies had declared they would announce a fresh petrol price every month, linked to international oil prices. But July is nearly done, and no announcement has been made. Anupama Airy reports.

Fearing an adverse political fallout if petrol prices are revised every month, the government is understood to have quietly instructed state-owned oil companies against any immediate price revision.

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Soon after the June 25 government decision to deregulate petrol prices, the oil companies had declared they would announce a fresh petrol price every month, linked to international oil prices. But July is nearly done, and no announcement has been made.

In fact Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd will all maintain status quo for another two months.

“There will not be any revision in petrol prices until there are significant fluctuations in international oil prices,” IOC Chairman and Managing Director B.M. Bansal told Hindustan Times.

“A policy decision to free petrol prices may have been taken but given the political implications of this move, it has to be implemented cautiously,” a senior petroleum ministry official said.

A confrontation between the government and the opposition over fuel prices already appears imminent in Parliament on Tuesday.