New Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) on Thursday reported Rs 2,172.14 net loss in July-September after losses arising from freezing petrol and diesel prices couldn't be made up by accounting for a one-time government grant that came after the quarter had ended.
Standalone net loss of Rs 2,172.14 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal year compares to Rs 1,923.51 crore profit in the same period last year, according to the company's filing to the stock exchanges. This is the first time that the company posted a back-to-back quarterly loss. HPCL posted a record of Rs 10,196.94 crore in the April-June quarter.
Just like HPCL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) - the nation's largest oil firm - too had posted a second straight quarterly loss as state-owned firms sold petrol, diesel and cooking gas (LPG) at rates below cost to help the government contain inflation. The loss in the second quarter of the current fiscal was despite accounting for a one-time grant that the government had announced on October 12 to make up for most of the losses that the oil PSUs had incurred on selling cooking gas LPG below cost in the last two years.
HPCL said it got Rs 5,617 crore "to compensate under-recoveries incurred on the sale of domestic LPG during the financial year 2021-22 and current period, which has been duly recognised in July-September 2022". The government had on October 12 extended a one-time grant of Rs 22,000 crore to three state-owned fuel retailers to cover for losses they incurred on selling domestic cooking gas LPG below cost in the last two years.
IOC had got Rs 10,800 crore, yet it booked a Rs 272.35 crore loss in Q2. HPCL, IOC and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) did not revise petrol, diesel and cooking gas LPG prices since early April despite a rise in input cost. This was with a view to helping the government contain inflation, which was already above the comfort zone.
The three firms had reported a combined net loss of Rs 18,480 crore in the first quarter (April-June). While the government regulates cooking gas rates, petrol and diesel prices are deregulated and oil companies are not compensated for any losses oil companies incur on them. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had, however, on Wednesday stated that his ministry would take up the issue of compensation for petrol and diesel losses with the finance ministry.