Petrol pumps all over Karnataka have not been sent fuel stock for the past three days. Fuel pump owners say that price revision is imminent tonight and will rise most likely by Rs 3 per litre for petrol and Rs1.5 per litre for diesel. Prices have been frozen since April 24.
On Wednesday, IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) Chairman Sanjiv Singh said the decision to freeze fuel prices by oil PSUs’ was aimed at stabilising, and that it “incidentally coincided” with the Karnataka election, a Business Today report said. There is a daily spike of 25 paise to 35 paise in fuel prices, resulting in the change by Rs 2 or Rs 3 every 15 days, he said.
“This was unrealistic. So, we thought of stabilising that, tapering it down to a certain extent. Now incidentally it coincided with some of the state elections. It was not the intention (of oil marketing companies),” he said, reported PTI.
A Bloomberg report pointed out that petrol and diesel prices were stuck at Rs 74.63 and Rs 65.93 since April 24. The subsidies provided by PSUs had ballooned to $9.6 billion in the year ended March 31, 2014, hence, subsidies were called off. There were also lag in payment of subsidies by the government to the state retailers who were giving crude and fuels in discounted rates.
“With federal elections next year and several state elections in the coming months, the government is feeling the pressure to restore a lid on fuel prices,” the report said.