Tax on petrol and diesel reduced by ₹10 each, prices increased by ₹7.50 each, crude oil came down from $120 to $81:

Read, Digital Desk : Crude oil falls by $40 but price rise and losses remain – what’s happening? Petrol price may hit the roof if govt ends excise duty cut.

New Delhi: Just before Iran tensions soared, crude oil prices hovered around the $120 mark. As a response, the Modi government did slash excise duty on both petrol and diesel by Rs 10 per litre each.

So much for curbing the impact on consumers, right?

Following five state elections, prices were jacked up by Rs 7.50 each on petrol and diesel in May – leading to petrol breaching the psychological Rs 100 per litre mark in many parts of the country.

What’s perplexing is, while crude oil is currently priced at just about $81 a barrel, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) are somehow still suffering mounting losses! The Iran conflict seems like water under the bridge for these petroleum behemoths.

According to a report by broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher, oil companies are still wrestling with under-recovery issues and excise duty problems even though crude prices have softened recently. The report warned that the first trimester of the fiscal year ending March 2027 will be tough for these state-owned companies – Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and HPCL – with significant losses likely on petrol and diesel sales. An under-recovery of roughly Rs 7 per litre for petrol and Rs 10 per litre for diesel is anticipated in the Q1 of FY27, which would certainly hit the companies’ profitability hard.

What’s more worrying is the likelihood of the government ending the Rs 10 excise duty cut to boost revenues, as it’s currently burning a hole in government coffers to the tune of Rs 1.7 lakh crore annually!

Crude oil prices have retreated from their highs as the prospect of a US-Iran deal grows, and trade is likely to resume smoothly in the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, Brent crude has even dropped below $80 a barrel, sending a wave of relief through OMCs. However, with many countries expected to restock their oil reserves in the months ahead, the global demand could push crude prices back up.

Petrol Diesel Prices June 22: Delhi – Petrol Rs 102.12, Diesel Rs 95.20; Chennai – Petrol Rs 107.77, Diesel Rs 99.55; Kolkata – Petrol Rs 113.51, Diesel Rs 99.82; Mumbai – Petrol Rs 111.21, Diesel Rs 97.83; Jaipur – Petrol Rs 112.66, Diesel Rs 97.78; Patna – Petrol Rs 112.70, Diesel Rs 99.87; Lucknow – Petrol Rs 102.05, Diesel Rs 99.28; Ayodhya – Petrol Rs 102.4, Diesel Rs 97.87; Indore – Petrol Rs 114.61, Diesel Rs 99.70; Bhopal – Petrol Rs 114.65, Diesel Rs 99.74; Raipur – Petrol Rs 107.96, Diesel Rs 101.17.