India's largest state refiner, Indian Oil Corp, recorded a sharp fall of 76 per cent in net profits for the third quarter in 2009-10, compared to the same period last year. The loss was due to the government not compensating for the subsidy for domestic retail automobile fuel.

In a regulatory statement, Indian Oil Corp said its net profit for the quarter ending December 31, 2009 was Rs 6.95 billion, compared to Rs 29.58 billion for the same period in 2008.