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Journalism of Courage
Breaking the mould of fortnightly revision,market leader Indian Oil Corp (IOC) cut the retail price of petrol by Rs 2.46 to Rs 3.22 a litre from Thursday midnight to partially pass on the benefit of low gasoline prices to consumers.
It has been decided to revise motor spirit prices downwards by Rs 2.46 per litre (excluding state levies) with effect from midnight of June 28-29, IOC said in a statement.
The market was expecting a downward revision of Rs 4 per litre at the end of the month. But IOC decided not to pass on the entire benefit in view of accumulated losses on petrol sales in the first two months of 2012-13.
During the current fiscal,IOC accumulated losses of Rs 1,053 crore on MS sales during the first two months due to the inability of the oil marketing companies to revise the selling price in line with high level of international oil prices & eroded dollar-rupee exchange rate during that period, the statement said.
Even after todays reduction,there exists scope for cutting rates by another rupee per litre.
The cut will benefit the common man as two-wheelers account for nearly 62 per cent of petrol consumption. The cut,the second this month after the Rs 2.02 cut on June 3,wipes out more than half of the Rs 7.54 per litre increase,the biggest in history,effected last month.
The BJP said the cut was not honest,and that the government should have slashed the price by Rs 7.50 a litre.
In Kolkata,Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said the price had been cut with an eye on the election of president,and would be increased after the election. The price should have been decreased by between Rs 10 and Rs 30 per litre, Mamata said.
