New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): The fixed Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) pricing mechanism introduced under the Centre's newly announced ATF Price Stabilisation Fund will result in a uniform selling price of about Rs 115 per litre in Delhi for both domestic and international airline operations.
Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing on the ongoing West Asia situation, Rohit Raj, Director in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, explained how the government arrived at the new ATF pricing structure after replacing the earlier capped-price mechanism.
'There were few numbers which were floated yesterday, one was 60.5, one was 75.62, another was 104 and 142,' Raj said, explaining the different price benchmarks that emerged following the Cabinet's decision.
According to him, Rs 60.5 per litre was the base ATF price on March 1, 2026, before fuel markets were impacted by the West Asia crisis.
'Since all the West Asia crisis happened after 28th of February, the whole April was pretty volatile for the ATF prices,' he said.
Raj noted that international parity prices of ATF surged sharply during the period. 'When the prices were published on 1st May, it was 142. So that was the price which is the IPP (international parity price),' he said.
To shield airlines from the sharp increase, the government had earlier capped the rise in ATF prices at 25 per cent over the March base price.
'We put a cap on ATF from the March base price and the increase was limited only to 25 per cent. So if you apply 25 per cent to the March base price, which was 60.5, the 75.62 figures comes in,' Raj said.
He explained that after adding applicable taxes, the selling price in Delhi under the capped arrangement worked out to around Rs 104 per litre.
'The Delhi selling price at that point of time was 104. So this price of 104 was because of capping,' he said.
Raj said the government has now shifted away from the capping mechanism and moved to a fixed-price framework under the newly approved stabilisation scheme.
'Now under the new mechanism, the capping won't be prevalent, but we are moving towards a fixed price mechanism,' he said.
Under the revised framework, the government has fixed the fuel price at the Free on Board (FOB) level after excluding taxes and certain charges.
'After that we arrive at a price under the scheme. For domestic operation it is fixed at 86.32 and for international operation it is fixed at 104.49,' Raj said.
Explaining the final retail price, he said that after adding airport charges and other applicable costs, the selling price in Delhi would work out to approximately Rs 115 per litre.
'In essence, if you take Delhi as an example, 115 is the fixed selling price at Delhi for both domestic and international,' Raj said.
The clarification comes a day after the Union Cabinet approved a one-time budgetary support of up to Rs 10,000 crore for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to stabilise ATF prices amid sharp fuel price volatility triggered by the ongoing West Asia conflict.
Announcing the decision on Wednesday, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government had approved 'one-time budgetary support not exceeding Rs 10,000 crore' to enable OMCs to provide ATF price stabilisation support to scheduled Indian airlines for both domestic and international operations.
According to the government, international ATF prices rose from Rs 60.50 per litre in March 2026 to Rs 142 per litre in May 2026 due to the crisis. ATF accounts for nearly 40 per cent of airline operating costs and can rise to as much as 60 per cent during periods of extreme fuel price volatility. (ANI)
