OMCs' diesel profit is around Rs 3 per litre, while their petrol profit is lower.

Industry executives explained why state-owned fuel retailers are holding retail prices, citing losses of around Rs 3 per litre on diesel sales and a reduction in profit on gasoline sales as a result of the recent strengthening of global oil prices.

Roughly 90% of India's fuel market is controlled by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL). These companies "voluntarily" have not changed the price of gasoline, diesel, or cooking gas (LPG) for the past almost two years, which has resulted in losses when input costs have increased and profits when raw material prices have decreased.
Since India depends 85% on imports to cover its oil needs, domestic rates are benchmarked by international oil prices, which had weakened towards the close of the previous year before strengthening once more in the second part of January.

They have rejected requests to go back to daily price revision and pass on rate reductions to customers, arguing that prices are still quite erratic, going up one day and down the next, and that they haven't recovered all of their previous losses.