In a second reduction within a month, state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Thursday announced reduction of Rs. 1.15 a litre in price of petrol but hiked diesel prices by 50 paise a litre from midnight on Thursday night.
The price changes are excluding local sales tax or VAT, the OMCs said. Petrol price in Delhi will be cut by Rs. 1.38 to Rs. 71.02 a litre, while it cost Rs.78.04 a litre in Mumbai as against Rs. 79.49 currently.
The reduction comes on back of Rs. 3.05 per litre (Rs. 3.66 after including VAT) cut in price on October 1.
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Prior to that, petrol prices had risen seven times since June, totalling Rs. 10.80 a litre, excluding VAT (Rs. 13.06 after including State tax) as the rupee depreciated sharply against the rupee.
Diesel price was hiked by 50 paise, excluding VAT, in line with the government decision in January allowing OMCs to raise price every month to wipe out mounting losses.
The diesel price in Delhi has been hiked by 56 paise to Rs. 53.10 a litre while it would cost Rs. 60.08 in Mumbai as against Rs. 59.46.
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Thursday’s hike is the 10th since January 17 and most of the losses on diesel sales should have been wiped out by now to make the fuel market priced.
However, the fall in rupee, around 25 per cent since April, has worsened the situation and losses mounted to Rs. 14.50 a litre.
The recent firming of rupee against the dollar and monthly increase have brought down losses to Rs. 9.58. Diesel rates have risen by a cumulative Rs. 5.95 this year.
Following are the revised prices of petrol and diesel in four metros after oil firms revised rates.
Petrol prices (in Rs.):
Current Revised Decrease
Delhi 72.40 71.02 1.38
Kolkata 79.51 78.07 1.44
Mumbai 79.49 78.04 1.45
Chennai 75.68 74.22 1.46
Diesel prices (in Rs.):
Current Revised Increase
Delhi 52.54 53.10 0.56
Kolkata 56.90 57.49 0.59
Mumbai 59.46 60.08 0.62
Chennai 56.01 56.61 0.60