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India, in Infographics: Energy

Two Decades Of Fuel-Retail Profits — And The Quarter They Slid Back Into The Red

India’s Three State Fuel Retailers — IOC, BPCL And HPCL — Earned ₹3.9 Lakh Crore In The Last Decade, Their Profits Roughly Quadrupling While Revenue Only Doubled. Those Earnings Turned Violently Cyclical: A Record ₹80,987 Crore In FY2023-24, Almost Nothing In FY2022-23 — And In Q1 FY2026-27 All Three Slipped Into A Combined ₹18,150 Crore Loss As They Held Pump Prices Through The 2026 Crude Spike.

IOC BPCL HPCL
Full bar = revenue · glowing cap = net profit · hover any year for the exact figures. Petrol & diesel deregulated 2010/2014.
Petrol Deregulated 2010Diesel Deregulated 2014₹0L₹3L₹6L₹9L'06'07'08'09'10'11'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25'26

Revenue is standalone turnover / revenue from operations as reported, ₹ crore. Petrol and diesel stay outside GST, so excise remains within the topline throughout and the series is broadly comparable. Combined view spans FY2005-06 to FY2025-26, where all three companies report.

The Latest Quarter — And It Turned Red Again
In Q1 FY2026-27 (Quarter Ended June 2026), All Three Swung To A Loss As They Held Pump Prices Through The 2026 Crude Spike — Even As Revenue Rose 24% Year-On-Year. Standalone, ₹ Crore.
Rev · Q1 FY26Profit · Q1 FY26Rev · Q1 FY27Profit · Q1 FY27Profit Swing
IOC₹218,608₹5,689₹275,972−₹2,662−₹8,351
BPCL₹129,578₹6,124₹159,479−₹3,962−₹10,086
HPCL₹120,135₹4,371₹145,126−₹11,526−₹15,897
All Three₹468,321₹16,184₹580,577−₹18,150−₹34,334
Net Profit, Last 10 Years
₹3.92L Cr
IOC, BPCL And HPCL Combined, FY2016-17 To FY2025-26.
Profit Outgrew Revenue
≈4× vs 2×
Profits Roughly Quadrupled While Revenue Only Doubled.
Thinnest Year, FY2022-23
₹1,138 Cr
HPCL Alone Lost ₹8,974 Crore Holding Pump Prices.
Q1 FY2026-27 Loss
−₹18,150 Cr
All Three Back In The Red, Vs A ₹16,184 Crore Profit A Year Earlier.
The Verdict
The Shield Cuts Both Ways. India’s Pump Prices Move Little While Crude Gyrates, So The Oil Marketers’ Own Profit Swings To Fill The Gap. When Crude Spikes And Prices Are Held, Margins Are Squeezed — A Loss In FY2022-23, And Again In Q1 FY2026-27, Where Revenue Rose 24% Yet They Swung From A ₹16,184 Crore Profit To An ₹18,150 Crore Loss. When Crude Eases, Margins Recover — The Record FY2023-24 Profits Came As Crude Fell Back, Refining Margins Held Firm (Helped By Discounted Russian Crude And Product Exports) And The Companies Recouped The Prior Year’s Losses. Petrol And Diesel Were Deregulated On Paper In 2010 And 2014, Though The Government Still Steers The Pump.
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The Full Numbers, Year By Year

Fiscal YearIOCBPCLHPCL
RevenueNet ProfitRevenueNet ProfitRevenueNet Profit
FY2003-04₹130,203₹7,005₹52,983₹1,695——
FY2004-05₹150,729₹4,891₹63,343₹966——
FY2005-06₹183,172₹4,915₹82,935₹292₹76,920₹406
FY2006-07₹220,779₹7,499₹107,452₹1,806₹96,918₹1,571
FY2007-08₹247,457₹6,963₹121,684₹1,581₹112,098₹1,135
FY2008-09₹285,337₹2,950₹145,392₹736₹131,803₹575
FY2009-10₹250,065₹10,221₹131,500₹1,538₹114,889₹1,301
FY2010-11₹303,695₹7,445₹163,218₹1,547₹142,396₹1,539
FY2011-12₹373,926₹3,955₹222,394₹1,311₹188,131₹911
FY2012-13₹414,909₹5,005₹250,538₹2,643₹215,666₹905
FY2013-14₹457,553₹7,019₹270,910₹4,061₹232,188₹1,734
FY2014-15₹437,524₹5,273₹238,087₹5,085₹206,626₹2,733
FY2015-16₹347,176₹11,242₹188,405₹7,056₹177,701₹3,726
FY2016-17₹359,942₹19,106₹202,211₹8,039₹187,091₹6,209
FY2017-18₹424,039₹21,346₹236,421₹7,976₹219,333₹6,357
FY2018-19₹527,701₹16,894₹297,275₹7,132₹275,215₹6,029
FY2019-20₹485,660₹1,313₹284,383₹2,683₹268,766₹2,637
FY2020-21₹378,058₹21,836₹232,553₹19,042₹232,997₹10,664
FY2021-22₹598,149₹24,184₹346,644₹11,363₹349,683₹6,383
FY2022-23₹839,472₹8,242₹473,125₹1,870₹440,403−₹8,974
FY2023-24₹774,349₹39,619₹447,908₹26,674₹433,525₹14,694
FY2024-25₹755,950₹12,962₹440,132₹13,275₹433,728₹7,365
FY2025-26₹784,158₹36,802₹455,076₹23,303₹441,448₹17,175

All figures standalone, ₹ crore. HPCL’s reports before FY2005-06 are not publicly available; IOC and BPCL extend to FY2003-04.

Why The Profits Swing

Deregulated On Paper, Managed In Practice
Petrol Pricing Was Freed In 2010 And Diesel In 2014, Which Let Marketing Margins Exist At All. But The Government Still Steers The Pump — It Froze Retail Prices For 22 Straight Months, April 2022 To March 2024.
The Shield Cuts Both Ways
Because The Pump Barely Moves While Crude Gyrates, The Companies’ Own Profit Is The Shock Absorber. Crude Up And Prices Held → Losses (FY2022-23, Q1 FY2026-27). Crude Down And Prices Held → Fat Margins (FY2023-24).
FY2023-24: The Record, Explained
The ₹80,987 Crore Peak Came As Crude Eased From The 2022 Spike While Pump Prices Stayed Frozen, Refining Margins Held Firm (Helped By Discounted Russian Crude And Product Exports), And The Companies Recouped The Prior Year’s Losses.

Sources & Method

Annual Figures
FY2003-04 To FY2013-14 From Company Annual Reports (‘Performance At A Glance’ / P&L Statements, IOC / BPCL / HPCL). FY2014-15 To FY2025-26 From screener.in Standalone Filings. Every Overlapping Year Cross-Checks Between Two Independent Reports.
Quarterly Figures
Q1 FY2025-26 (June 2025) And Q1 FY2026-27 (June 2026) Standalone Results From Company Exchange Filings, Cross-Checked Across Multiple Outlets. FY2026-27 Q1 Is Unaudited (Limited Review).

Revenue is standalone turnover / revenue from operations as reported; petrol and diesel remain outside GST so excise stays within the topline throughout. Net profit is standalone profit after tax. Figures in ₹ crore. The FY2015-16 revenue dip reflects the global crude-price crash, not an accounting change.

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by Tushar Gupta · No Rhetoric, Just Data
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© 2026 PolityPolicy · by Tushar Gupta · Graphic free to share and reproduce with credit to politypolicy.com. Underlying data belongs to its original compilers.