New Delhi, December 22: Finance Ministry today hinted at giving fuel retailers cash for the revenue they lose on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost instead of the prevalent practice of issuing oil bonds.
“We would ideally want to provide (for revenue loss) in the Budget and not give oil bonds because either way its indirectly or directly part of the fiscal,” Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the trading platform for trade receivables.
“So there is no great need or a rationale in giving oil bonds to oil marketing companies,” he said.
The government, which last fiscal issued oil bonds worth Rs 71,292 crore to Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, has not issued it this fiscal. This has seen BPCL and HPCL slip into red while IOC barely posted profit in Q2.
–Agencies