Petrol Price Cut Again, Total Reduction Reaches Rs 4.05 In 18 Days

Petrol price has been cut by over Rs 4 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.33 in the last 18 days as international crude prices fell.

Petrol price was cut by 21 paise a litre on Sunday and diesel by 17 paise, according to a notification issued by state-owned fuel retailers.

• In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 78.78 per litre, while diesel is priced at Rs 73.36.
• In Mumbai, petrol now costs Rs 82.28 and diesel Rs 76.88.

Rates have been falling since Oct. 18. Petrol price had touched a record high of Rs 84 per litre in Delhi and Rs 91.34 in Mumbai on Oct. 4. Diesel on that day had peaked to Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi and Rs 80.10 in Mumbai.

Prices had started to climb from Aug. 16. Between Aug. 16 and Oct. 4, petrol price was hiked by Rs 6.86 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.73.

On that day, the government decided to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre each and asked state-owned fuel retailers to subsidise the price by another Re 1 a litre by reducing their margins.

But as international oil prices continued to rise, price of petrol and diesel in Delhi increased to Rs 82.83 and Rs 75.69 on Oct. 17. In Mumbai, rates touched Rs 88.29 a litre for petrol and Rs 79.35 for diesel.

But since then, international oil prices have been falling and rupee has also appreciated, resulting in the decline in retail rates.