Oil marketing companies (OMCs) comprising Indian Oil, HPCL, and BPCL have decided not to pass on the incremental cost of fuel upgrade to the consumers as COVID-19 crisis has brought the country to a standstill.

These companies, in a joint statement on Thursday, said they have fully transitioned to BS-VI compliant petrol and diesel starting April 1.

OMCs said they have incurred capital expenditure (Capex) of about Rs 35,000 crore to upgrade their refineries, pipelines, and marketing distribution network to leapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI in accordance with the timeline of April 1, 2020.

Even though, going forward, there will be an incremental operational expenditure and the capex costs on retail selling price of petrol and diesel, the companies have decided to keep the prices unchanged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the OMCs have highlighted that some states may see an increase in retail selling price of both petrol and diesel on account of an increase in VAT rates imposed by the respective states.

States like Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, etc. have increased their VAT rates with effect from April 1, 2020, which will have an impact on the consumer for nearly Re 1 a litre.

First Published:Apr 2, 2020 9:49 PM IST