State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) posted a net loss of Rs. 272.35 crores for the second quarter ending September.

The refiner faced losses due to selling petrol, diesel, and cooking gas LPG at rates below cost.

This is the company’s first-ever back-to-back quarterly loss despite booking of over Rs. 10,800 crores of LPG subsidy it received from the government after the quarter ended.

The net loss of IOC stands at Rs. 272.35 crore compares to a profit of Rs. 6,360.05 crores in July-September 2021, according to a company’s filing with the stock exchanges.

The decline comes on the back of an Rs. 1,992.53 crores loss incurred in the previous April-June quarter. This is the first time that IOC has booked losses in two straight quarters because it sold petrol products and cooking gas (LPG) at rates below cost.

The loss in the second quarter of the current fiscal was despite accounting for Rs. 10,801 crores of one-time grants that the government had announced on October 12.

The government on October 12 extended a one-time grant of Rs. 22,000 crores to three state-owned fuel retailers to cover the losses they incurred on selling domestic cooking gas LPG below cost in two years starting June 2020.

“The company had suffered under-recoveries from the sale of domestic LPG in the financial year 2021-22 and in six months ended on September 20, 2022. To compensate for under-recoveries, the Government of India has recently approved a one-time grant of Rs. 10,801.00 crores. This grant has been recorded under revenue from operations in financial results for the period April- September 2022,” IOC said in the filing.

In April-June (the first quarter of 2022-23 fiscal), IOC booked a net loss of Rs. 1,992.53 crores.

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