New Delhi, April 29 -- The Centre on Tuesday said there is no proposal to raise petrol and diesel prices after polling in the West Bengal assembly election ends on Wednesday, while adding that it is also weighing customs duty cuts and exemptions on cotton, rayon-grade wood pulp and other inputs to support the textiles sector. "There is no proposal for increase of prices," petroleum ministry joint secretary Sujata Sharma said at an inter-ministerial briefing. Industry executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said both private and public sector oil companies were incurring heavy revenue losses on petrol and diesel, and that some form of price increase was expected after the assembly elections conclude on April 29. Last Thursday, the government said state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) were incurring under-recoveries of around Rs.20 per litre on petrol and about Rs.100 per litre on diesel. To be sure, under-recoveries are not actual losses but notional revenue gaps compared with prevailing market prices on a given day. One executive said while the government compensates public sector OMCs, private companies must absorb the full hit. Auto fuel prices have remained broadly unchanged since mid-March 2024, barring a marginal five-paise increase on October 30, 2024, due to marketing cost adjustments. International oil prices have remained volatile since the war in West Asia began on February 28. Benchmark Brent crude rose more than 54% to $112.2 a barrel on Tuesday afternoon from $72.81 two months ago. India imports about 88% of the crude oil it processes, making it highly sensitive to global price swings. In the refining business, around 90% of costs are linked to crude oil. Giving an update on the textile sector, Bipin Menon, trade adviser in the ministry of textiles, said the sector was facing supply chain challenges because of the conflict and that the government was considering relief measures after consultations with stakeholders....