Diesel Prices Hiked By Rs 25 Per Litre For Bulk Users: Here's What It Means For Us
Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel. Price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices. Retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged.
The price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked by about Rs 25 per litre in line with a near 40 per cent rise in international oil prices, but retail rates at petrol pumps remain unchanged, according to a PTI report.
Petrol pump sales have jumped by a fifth this month after bulk users like bus fleet operators and malls queued up at petrol bunks to buy fuel rather than the usual practice of ordering directly from oil companies, widening the losses of retailers.
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The worst hit are private retailers like Nayara Energy, Jio-bp and Shell, who have so far refused to curtail any volume despite a surge in sales. But now closure of pumps is a more viable solution than continuing to sell more fuel at rates that have been on freeze for a record 136 days, three sources with direct knowledge of the development said.
Private retailers stare at closure
In 2008, Reliance Industries had shut all of its 1,432 petrol pumps in the country after sales dropped to almost nil as it could not match the subsidized price offered by the public sector competition.
A similar scenario may unfold again as retailers' losses widen from bulk users being diverted to petrol pumps, they said.
Price of diesel sold to bulk users has been hiked to Rs 122.05 per litre in Mumbai. This compares to Rs 94.14 a litre price of the same fuel sold at petrol pumps.
In Delhi, diesel costs Rs 86.67 a litre at the petrol pump, but for bulk or industrial users it is priced at about Rs 115.
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PSU oil companies have not raised retail prices of petrol and diesel since November 4, 2021 despite a surge in global oil and fuel prices, a move seen as aiding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in crucial state assembly elections.
But now, the PSU retailers have hiked rates for bulk users such as state bus fleets and malls and airports which use diesel for generating backup electricity.
There is hardly any bulk or industrial user of petrol, diesel is widely used in industries.
The wide difference of about Rs 25 per litre between the bulk user rate and petrol pump price has prompted bulk users to refuel at petrol pumps rather than book tankers directly from oil companies, they said.
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