Petrol Price Hiked By 54 Paise Per Litre, Diesel By 58 Paise
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for a third straight day.
Petrol price on Tuesday was hiked by 54 paise per litre and diesel by 58 paise a litre, the third straight daily increase in rates after state-owned oil refiners ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 73.00 per litre from 72.46, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 71.17 a litre from Rs 70.59, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
Prices were raised by 60 paise per litre each on both petrol and diesel on Sunday as well as on Monday. In all, petrol price has gone up by Rs 1.74 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.78 a litre in three days.
Public sector oil companies - Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp - had put daily price revisions on hold soon after the government on March 14, hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each.
Oil companies did not pass on that excise duty hike, as well as the May 6 increase in tax on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and on diesel by Rs 13 a litre, by setting them off against the decline in retail prices that should have reflected international oil rates falling to two-decade low.
International rates have since rebounded and oil companies having exhausted the margins are now passing on the increase to customers, an industry official said.