Rs 2.86 lakh crore fuel loot: Surjewala targets govt over oil firms’ profits

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala accused the government of an “organised loot” of Rs 2.86 lakh crore, citing combined profits of state-run oil marketing companies from 2020-21 to 2025-26. He alleged high fuel prices burdened consumers despite manageable global crude prices

New Delhi: Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Monday accused the government of an “organised loot” of Rs 2.86 lakh crore from the pockets of the common people, as profits of state-run oil marketing companies indicated.

In a post on X, he claimed that the government earlier deliberately tried to hide the profit margins of oil marketing companies behind the excuse of “commercial confidentiality” and said this undeniable truth of “organized loot” was officially exposed in the answer to my question in the Rajya Sabha. In a question in the Rajya Sabha, Surjewala had asked about the total revenues of oil marketing companies for the last few years, to which the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi gave a written answer.

---

“THE Rs 2.86 Lakh crore fuel loot exposed. My Q in Rajya Sabha. First, let’s look at the sheer scale of the extortion from the pockets of the common man. Official data reveals that while citizens were being crushed by inflation, the Government allowed Oil Marketing Companies (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL) to rake in a mind-boggling total combined profit of Rs 2,86,479 Crore between 2020-21 and 2025-26.

“To put that corporate windfall into perspective, the exact amount sucked from the public’s pockets over this period is Rs 2,86,479,00,00,000. And what is the reward for the public paying these record corporate profits? Brutal retail price hikes! By mid-2026, retail petrol prices in Delhi were pushed to a staggering Rs 102.12 per litre,” he said in his post on X, while sharing the government’s answer in Rajya Sabha.

Making a comparison of oil prices during the Congress-UPA era and the BJP-NDA era, the Congress leader said under Congress – UPA the government actively shielded your household budget.

“Even when international crude oil prices soared well over USD 100 per barrel, Petrol was kept affordable at around Rs 71 per litre. This was possible because the Central Excise Duty was kept low at just Rs 9.48 per litre. The government absorbed the global price shocks to protect the middle class.

“Under BJP-NDA: The government weaponized fuel prices. When global crude prices fell, instead of passing the relief to citizens, they ruthlessly hiked the Central Excise Duty (which reached as high as Rs 32.90 per litre). The result? Petrol crosses Rs 102 per litre despite manageable international crude prices, ensuring maximum extortion for the government and record profits for oil companies,” he alleged.

“The government deliberately tried to hide their profit margins behind the excuse of “commercial confidentiality,” but this undeniable truth of organized loot was officially exposed in the answer to my question in the Rajya Sabha,” Surjewala also alleged.

In the written reply, Gopi gave a detailed account of oil prices as compared to global crude oil prices. He also gave a detailed account of the profits of various oil marketing companies in the last few years, showing how they were in big losses during the first quarter of this financial year.