Kolkata: This could have been the worst development just before the festive season begins in India. Nayara Energy has raised petrol prices by ₹5 and diesel
by ₹3. The obvious question now is, will the PSU oil marketing companies such as IOC, HPOCL and BOCL follow Nayara’s footsteps? The question has become more relevant since in September, the average price of crude oil that Indian refiners have imported has zoomed higher than any level since the West Asia war — $116.09 per barrel. With 7,108 pumps across India Nayara Energy operates the biggest private-sector petrol pump network. The company is jointly owned by Russia’s state oil major Rosneft and an international consortium including Kesani Enterprises Co Ltd and United Capital Partners. Both of these hold 49.13% stake in the company.
Nayara also raised prices in March
This isn’t the first time Nayara has increased petrol and diesel prices this year. On March 26, the company also raised petrol prices by Rs 5 and diesel by Rs 3 per liter. At that time, the price of petrol at Naira pumps rose to Rs 100.71 and diesel to Rs 91.31 per liter. However, the company later reversed these increases after global crude prices softened. On July 1, petrol was reduced by ₹5 and diesel by ₹3 per liter.
Crude oil average price sky high in Sept
The apprehension of a rise in the retail prices of petrol and diesel becomes real if one studies the rise in the average price of the crude oil that India has imported in September. It stands far above any monthly average that Indian refiners have imported since the US-Ian war began on February 28 this year. Let’s have a look.
March 2026: $111.39 per barrel
April: $114.48
May: $106.23
June: $83.22
July: $82.04
August: $90.19
September: $116.09
Source: Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell
Will IOC, HPCL, BPCL raise prices?
If the PSU oil marketing companies raise prices during the festive season it will hit the common people hard. Retail inflation is on the rise and expert agencies are predicting that RBI will raise Repo Rate in the Monetary Policy Committee meeting this week. The prices of consumer items have already risen just before the festive season. A rise in retail prices of petrol and diesel will stoke a fresh round of price rise in most goods. While the government will not like to see that happening, a significant factor is the extent of under-recoveries the oil marketing companies are making due to the rising price of crude oil. If the under recoveries begin hurting their finances, the government could consider raising the retail prices of petrol diesel and aviation fuel. But it is going to be the last option. For the record, there has been four rounds of price hikes of petrol and diesel in India since end February.
