According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, Business Standard, Live Mint, The Times of India, NDTV Profit, and Zee News, Nayara Energy, India's largest private fuel retailer, has raised petrol prices by ₹5 per litre and diesel by ₹3 per litre with immediate effect. The company operates 7,108 petrol pumps across the country and implemented the price hike from early Saturday hours. With this latest increase, petrol prices have reached ₹108 per litre in Haryana as of the latest data, while diesel is priced at ₹98.84 per litre. The price increase comes as the private fuel retailer moves to narrow the gap between domestic pump prices and higher international crude and refined-product costs, seeking to pass through higher costs after a period of relatively subdued retail prices.
As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Business Standard, Live Mint, The Times of India, NDTV Profit, and Zee News, this latest increase comes amid renewed pressure on fuel retailers from higher global energy prices and follows a series of price adjustments by Nayara this year. The company was the first fuel retailer to pass on the surge in international oil prices to consumers when the Iran conflict disrupted energy supplies earlier this year. On March 26, it raised petrol prices by ₹5 a litre and diesel by ₹3, taking rates at its outlets to ₹100.71 and ₹91.31 a litre respectively. State-owned fuel retailers subsequently began raising pump prices in May, with cumulative increases reaching about ₹7.50 a litre each by late May, including a fourth increase on May 25 of ₹2.61 a litre for petrol and ₹2.71 for diesel. Nayara later reversed its March increase on July 1, cutting petrol prices by ₹5 a litre and diesel by ₹3 after international crude prices eased as West Asian tensions subsided. The reduction was the first by a fuel retailer in more than two years and brought Nayara's pricing broadly back in line with state-owned retailers. This marks the second such revision by Nayara this year so far, with the latest hike following increases of ₹6.28 per litre or 5.46 per cent in September and ₹5 per litre in August.
According to The Times of India, oil marketing companies have increased the price of bulk diesel by ₹14.6 per litre, while private retailer Nayara Energy has raised pump prices of petrol and diesel by ₹5 and ₹3 per litre respectively. Bulk diesel, used by commercial, industrial and institutional customers, is now priced at ₹153.57 per litre, up from ₹138.97 in September. The price of bulk diesel reflects the actual market price of the fuel and is aligned directly with international product benchmarks. In contrast, the price of diesel and petrol for automobiles sold at retail outlets run by public sector oil marketing companies is regulated by the government and currently frozen at ₹95.64 and ₹102.12 a litre respectively in the capital. Petroleum dealers said the substantial price difference of ₹57.93 per litre between retail and bulk diesel has already prompted some commercial and industrial customers to buy their supplies from retail outlets.
According to latest reports from NDTV Profit, petrol prices across major Indian cities on October 5 remained unchanged despite volatile international crude prices. Petrol prices in Delhi stand at ₹102.12 per litre, while Kolkata commands the highest at ₹113.51 per litre, followed by Mumbai at ₹111.21 per litre, Chennai at ₹107.77 per litre, Hyderabad at ₹115.69 per litre, and Bengaluru at ₹110.89 per litre. Diesel prices show Delhi at ₹95.20 per litre, Kolkata at ₹99.82 per litre, Mumbai at ₹97.83 per litre, Chennai at ₹99.55 per litre, Hyderabad at ₹103.82 per litre, and Bengaluru at ₹98.80 per litre. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Business Standard, Live Mint, The Times of India, NDTV Profit, and Zee News, domestic fuel prices remain steady even as crude oil prices eased on Monday, October 5, with Brent crude futures at $101.74 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $90.29 per barrel, down from previous levels. Apart from crude prices in the global market, state-run oil marketing companies need to consider multiple other factors like the rupee-dollar exchange rate, refining costs, taxes, and dealer margins to determine domestic fuel prices, which is why domestic fuel prices do not change on a daily basis according to the daily movement in international crude prices.
According to rating agency Icra, oil marketing companies were incurring negative marketing margins of around ₹8 per litre on petrol and ₹9 per litre on diesel in September, as retail prices remained unchanged despite sharp rise in crude and petroleum-product prices. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, Business Standard, Live Mint, The Times of India, NDTV Profit, and Zee News, OMCs were losing about ₹530 crore a day across petrol, diesel and LPG, with elevated crude prices and unchanged domestic fuel prices putting pressure on their profitability and cash flows. The agency noted that combined refining and marketing operations of OMCs break even when crude prices are in the range of $85-90 a barrel, and beyond that level, marketing losses are likely to emerge without corresponding retail price increases. The latest revision follows a backdrop of pressure on the economics of fuel retailing, with retail prices having remained unchanged even as crude and petroleum-product prices rose sharply.
