Petrol price hiked by 48 paise/litre, diesel by 23 paise; ninth straight day of increase

Petrol price on Monday was hiked by 48 paise per litre and diesel by 23 paise a litre as oil companies for the ninth day in a row adjusted retail rates in line with costs since ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 76.26 per litre from Rs 75.78, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 74.26 a litre from Rs 74.03, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT. This is the ninth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus. In nine hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 5 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.87 a litre. The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of fall in international oil prices.