OMCs losses mount as government holds retail fuel prices

The publically controlled OMCs sell diesel and cooking fuels at prices that are generally lower than the cost. These are generally compensated by upstream companies and the government but such compensation is often not complete and OMCs have to absorb some loses. While the government has historically born 33% of the oil subsidy, the oil ministry has been asking the government to hike its share given the surge in under-recoveries.

The oil ministry has made it clear that upstream companies, which provide discounts on crude oil supplies to downstream companies as their share of under-recovery, will not bear more than 33% of the losses of retailers. This leaves the rest to be divided between the government and downstream companies. Since the OMCs does not have the financial muscle to absorb anything more than say 10-15% of the under-recovery, the government will have to hike its share to over 50% to ensure that financial health of fuel retailers is not impacted.