Petrol, Diesel rates further down by Rs.2 per litre

Petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs.2 per litre each on Monday as international oil prices slumped to a five-year low.This is the eighth straight reduction in petrol prices since August, and fourth in diesel since October. New rates will be effective from Monday midnight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest fuel retailer, announced, a PTI report stated.

In Delhi, petrol will cost Rs.61.33 a litre, the lowest in 44 months, as compared to current price of Rs.63.33. The price has been cut by Rs.2.09 a litre in Mumbai to Rs.68.86.Rates differ from state to state because of varied rates of local sales tax or VAT.

Diesel will cost Rs.50.51 a litre in Delhi, the lowest since July 2013, as against Rs.52.51 currently. In Mumbai, it will cost Rs.57.91 per litre as compared to Rs.60.11.

The rate cut would have been steeper but for the government deciding to make hay out of the crude oil rate slump to USD 62.37 per barrel by raising excise duty on petrol by Rs.2.25 and by Re 1 a litre on diesel.Crude oil price in June was USD 115 per barrel.

The prices of petrol and diesel were last revised downwards on December 1 by 91 paisa a litre and 84 paisa per litre respectively (including state levies at Delhi) on the back of declining international oil prices. After this reduction, petrol price has been cut by Rs.12.27 per litre cumulatively since August.

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 a Rs.2.25 a litre reduction on November 1 and 84 paisa per litre on December 1. Cumulatively, diesel prices have been cut by Rs.8.46 a litre in four reductions.

There would have been another reduction on November 15 but the government mopped up, raising excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs.1.50 a litre each.In the two excise duty hikes, the government has raised its revenue by Rs.10,600 crore this fiscal.

Source: Indiatoday