Oil PSUs suffer loss of Rs 2,749 cr in Q2

New Delhi, November 8 State-owned oil marketing companies — IOC, BPCL and HPCL — posted a second consecutive quarterly loss totalling Rs 2,748.66 crore in July-September as a one-time LPG payout by the government could not mask the losses from petrol and diesel prices freeze. According to stock exchange filings by the three fuel retailers, the losses were due to erosion in the marketing margin on petrol, diesel and domestic LPG. The losses would have been higher but for the Rs 22,000 crore one-time government grant paid to make up for losses incurred on selling cooking gas LPG at rates below cost in the last two years. IOC on October 29 reported a net loss of Rs 272.35 crore for the July-September quarter, which came on the back of Rs 1,995.3 crore loss in the previous three months. On November 3, HPCL reported a loss of Rs 2,172.14 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal, on the back of its highest-ever quarterly loss of Rs 10,196.94 crore in April-June. BPCL on Monday posted a loss of Rs 304.17 crore in July-September, according to a company's stock exchange filing. In the first quarter, it posted a loss of Rs 6,263.05 crore. — PTI H1 loss at Rs 21,201 cr The combined loss for the first half of the current fiscal now stands at Rs 21,201.18 crore — the highest-ever for any six-month period The losses would have been higher but for the Rs 22,000-crore one-time government grant paid to make up for losses incurred on selling cooking gas LPG at rates below cost in the past two years

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