New Delhi: Amidst surging international crude oil prices, the country's largest oil company Indian Oil on April 2 said it would have its own policy on pricing of transportation fuel with the corporation chief M S Ramachandran saying he was against cartelisation.

Asked if IOC would have a coordinated approach with Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, the other two oil PSUs, on pricing of petrol and diesel, Ramachandran said he was not in favour of any such approach.

In the deregulated market customer should get the benefit, he said but pointed out that there could not be much difference in the basic price line and the oil companies would seek to attract the customers by offering concessions and other facilities.

"I am against cartelisation," he emphasised and said that there could be a difference of only 1-2 per cent in pricing of fuel by different companies as was the practice in the developed countries.

Nevertheless, he disfavoured any immediate increase in prices of petrol and diesel in the wake of surging global crude prices saying "though oil sector deregulation has brought in import parity pricing principle for fixation of retail selling price of petrol and diesel, we (IOC and other oil PSUs) will hold the price line at current levels for next 2-3 months."

A four Dollar increase in international crude prices would impose an additional burden of Rs 200 crore a month on IOC in case prices of petrol and diesel were not hiked, he said adding that IOC had asked government for excise duty changes to nullify the impact of hike in crude prices.

PTI