Not 60 but 1 paisa: Indian Oil revises petrol, diesel prices within hours

Mumbai: The excitement among consumers over petrol, diesel price cut proved to be short-lived, after the official website of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) reported an error.

Both petrol and diesel prices were cut by 1 paisa per litre in Delhi and Mumbai on Wednesday.

However, earlier in the morning, the website said petrol and diesel prices have been cut by 60 paise and 56 paise per litre respectively.

This is the first time in 16 days that prices have been cut since May 14 after fuel retailers ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to pass on a spike in global oil rates.

In all, petrol price was increased by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in that fortnight.

Prices vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or Value Added Tax (VAT). Delhi has the cheapest price among all metros and most state capitals.

Petrol fetched Rs 78.42 in Delhi while in Mumbai it was sold for Rs 86.23 per litre today. Meanwhile, diesel was sold at Rs 69.30 in Delhi and Rs 73.78 in Mumbai.

The revised petrol prices in other metropolitan cities are – Kolkata: Rs 81.05 and Chennai: Rs 81.42.

Meanwhile, the cost of diesel per litre as on Wednesday is Rs 71.58 in Kolkata and Rs 73.17 in Chennai.

Petrol and diesel prices went down after 16 consecutive hikes in rates triggering political slugfest.

Notably, domestic petrol and diesel prices touched a record high on Friday.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 15-16 paise on Tuesday even as oil prices were mixed. The price rose beyond the Rs 86 mark on Monday.

Petrol and diesel prices in India are linked to Singapore gasoline prices GL95-SIN and Arab Gulf diesel prices GO-AG, which mostly track movements in crude oil prices LCOc1.

The reason behind the increase in petrol prices in the country is the rise in the crude oil cost and high excise duty levied on the particular fuel type.

Considering that tax form a major constituent of fuel prices, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said, the government wants to bring petroleum products under the goods and services tax (GST) regime in the long run.

“I have already categorically stated this issue several times. The present oil price hike is due to three main factors — hike in the international price of crude, fluctuation in the dollar and Indian currency ratio and some of the tax issues are also there. For long-term solutions, the government of India is planning for a holistic strategy. Bringing petroleum products within the ambit of GST is one among them. We are sensitive, let’s see how things are unfolding,” he told reporters.