RIL, IOC, HPCL & BPCL raise Rs 78,000 crore via CPs

Mumbai | New Delhi: Oil majors Reliance Industries, IndianOil, HPCLNSE 0.15 % and BPCLNSE 1.31 % are on a debt-raising spree and have raised Rs 78,000 crore in short-term debt using commercial papers (CPs) in nine weeks to pay for costly crude purchased before oil prices crashed, while sales revenue has fallen drastically during the lockdown.

State-owned firms are severely hit as they are bearing the additional burden of welfare schemes of the government and have not yet been reimbursed for subsidies on kerosene and cooking gas.