NEW DELHI: Petrol price was hiked on Wednesday by Rs 3.07 a litre, reversing its 3-month declining trend, while diesel rates went up by Rs 1.90 per litre.
Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 59.68 per litre from mid-night tonight as against Rs 56.61 currently, said Indian Oil Corporation, the nation’s biggest fuel retailer.
Similarly, a litre of diesel will cost Rs 48.33 compared with Rs 46.43 a litre at present.
While the hike in petrol price turns the clock back on the declining trend since January, this is the third straight fortnightly increase in diesel rates.
Petrol price was last cut by Rs 3.02 from 1st March and today’s hike has wiped off all of that. Diesel price on that day was hiked by Rs 1.47.
The three hikes in diesel rates since 16th February total to Rs 3.65 per litre.
In fact, consumers are still to get all the benefits from the sharp drop in international oil prices to a decade low as the government on five occasions since November has raised excise duty on the two auto fuels.
The five levy hikes add up to Rs 4.02 per litre on petrol and Rs 6.97 on diesel, handing the government a neat Rs 17,000 crore as additional revenue. The revision was due on Tuesday, but the retailers chose to defer it by a day.(PTI)