AGENCY
NEW DELHI: Petrol price was on Sunday cut by 91 paise a litre, the seventh reduction since August, and diesel by 84 paise per litre, the third straight cut, as international oil rates continued to slump.
Petrol and diesel price reduction will be effective midnight Sunday, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced here.
In Delhi, petrol price will cost Rs 63.33 a litre as compared to Rs 64.24 per litre previously while in Mumbai the reduction will be 96 paise to Rs 70.95 per litre.
Diesel will cost Rs 52.51 a litre in Delhi from Monday as against Rs 53.35 currently while in Mumbai the price will be cut by 93 paise to Rs 60.11 per litre.
Rates differ from state to state due to differential local sales tax or VAT rates.
The prices of petrol and diesel were last revised downwards on November 1 by Rs 2.41 a litre and Rs 2.25 per litre respectively (including state levies at Delhi) on the back of declining international oil prices.
“Since the last price changes, the international prices of both petrol and diesel have continued to be on a downtrend.
Diesel price was cut for the first time in more than five years on October 19 by Rs 3.37 a litre when the government decided to deregulate the fuel. This was followed by another reduction on November 1.
“The movement of prices in international oil market and INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be closely monitored and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes,” the statement said. .
Rates would have been cut by Rs 1.50 on November 16 but the government took away the gains by way of an excise duty increase.
Excise Duty on normal or unbranded petrol was hiked from Rs 1.20 per litre to Rs 2.70 per litre and unbranded diesel from Rs 1.46 a litre to Rs 2.96.
The same on branded petrol was raised from Rs 2.35 a litre to Rs 3.85 and on branded diesel from Rs 3.75 to Rs 5.25 per litre.
Oil firms revise rates of petrol, which was deregulated in June 2010, and diesel on 1st and 16th of every month based on average international oil price and rupee-US dollar exchange rate. (PTI)
