Reliance Urges Government to Deregulate Petrol Retail Prices

Despite the softening of the crude prices, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) asked the Government to free retail fuel pricing in order to create a level playing field between private and public sector oil marketing companies.

Mr P. Raghavendran, President of Reliance Refinery Business said, “Removal of Government controls is much more critical than a simple statement that the private sector can come in,” he said adding that “we will re-open our business only when we see a reasonable period of stability, when we do not have to shut down again. By period of stability, I mean when the Government comes out with clear policy and the international crude prices stabilise.”

Due to mounting differential in retail selling prices of petrol and diesel sold by Reliance and the public sector undertakings, the company had to shut down all its petrol pumps. As public sector undertakings sold products at subsidised rates, private retailers found it tough to compete. RIL was incurring a revenue loss of close to Rs 25 a litre on both petrol and diesel, before it shut down its 1,433 petrol pumps.

When asked if the company preferred exports over domestic sales, he said, “we would always welcome a domestic market if there is a level-playing field. It is lack of clarity in policy, which is holding us back. The fuel retail market was not commercially viable when the prices could not be predicted on a month-to-month basis.”

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