New Delhi: The government has no plans yet to provide fiscal support to oil marketing companies (OMCs) for their revenue losses or insufficient recovery from sales of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
OMC will suffer losses in sales of petrol, diesel and ATF for domestic flights due to high oil prices amid the West Asian crisis and subsequent supply disruption that has been ongoing for over two months.
“Currently, the government has not submitted any proposal to support the OMC,” she said during a media briefing on the country’s fuel situation.
Jet fuel prices for domestic airlines were raised by 25% in April, about one-quarter of the required increase commensurate with the global rise in oil prices; rates remained unchanged for this month. However, ATF prices for international airlines have increased by more than 5% since May 1.
Similarly, despite the lack of recovery of approx ₹20 per liter in petrol sales and around ₹100 per liter of diesel sales, there has been no increase in the prices of regular petrol and diesel, according to data cited by the government.
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Domestic LPG prices remained unchanged during the last round of price revision on May 1, while commercial LPG prices increased by nearly ₹1000 per cylinder. Domestic LPG prices were last increased by ₹60 per cylinder in March.
The Center has previously supported open methods of coordination through budget support to cover their shortfalls.
On the recent hike in prices of selected products, Sharma said, “There is no increase in MS (motor petrol or petrol), HSD (high speed diesel). There is also no increase in domestic LPG prices. But that is also the fact that our supply has been interrupted and there is tension in the market. International prices of crude oil, LPG and natural gas have seen a significant jump.”
Retail consumer protection
Noting that consumers affected by the recent price hike account for about 90% of total diesel and LPG sales, she said, “So every effort has been made to protect the retail consumer… So the government and companies have taken care of the interests of the common man.”
Further, data from the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell on Monday showed that the country’s LPG consumption fell 16.16% year-on-year to 761,000 metric tonnes in April due to supply shortages, while gasoline consumption rose 6.36% to 3.45 million tonnes.
Sharma cited the mandatory 45-day reservation period for domestic LPG cylinders in rural areas and supply constraints for commercial consumption as key factors in the decline in demand in April 2026.
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“It is true that LPG consumption has gone down and there are several reasons. If you look at it… We extended the reservation period for rural consumers. So it was an effort on our part to manage the demand. Another major reason is that commercial supply has been limited to 70%. The third reason is that the supply verification code has greatly reduced the diversion of domestic cylinders for commercial use,” she said.
Diesel sales rose 0.25% year-on-year to 8.28 million tonnes in April, while ATF sales fell 1.37% to 7.72 million tonnes.
India is the third largest consumer and importer of oil, and annual demand has been at record highs for the past few years. In 2025–26, India’s demand for petroleum products stood at 243.19 million tonnes and is projected to reach 250 million tonnes in 2026–27.
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