PETROL SEES 1ST RATE CUT IN 36 DAYS AS FUEL PRICES DROP

NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel prices were cut by 20 paise per litre each on Sunday—the first reduction in petrol rate in over a month, and the fourth in case of diesel in less than a week.

Petrol price in Delhi was cut to ₹101.64 a litre and diesel to ₹89.07 per litre, according to a price notification of state-run oil companies.

The reduction came as international oil prices tumbled to their lowest level since May, after the Federal Reserve signalled it was set to start tapering asset purchases.

The price cut in diesel is the fourth since August 18, when the reduction cycle began. All four reductions have been of 20 paise per litre each. On the previous three occasions when diesel rates were cut, petrol prices remained unchanged.

Sunday’s cut in petrol price came after 36 days of status quo in rates. Diesel rate change was effected after 33 days of no change.

The freeze in rate revision coincided with Parliament session, where the opposition parties tried to corner the government on various issues including the hike in fuel prices.

Petrol and diesel prices were last hiked on July 17.

Prior to that, the petrol price was increased by ₹11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17. Diesel rates had gone up by ₹9.14 during this period.

In Mumbai, petrol price was decreased to retail the fuel at ₹107.66, 17 paise down from the previous price of ₹107.83. Diesel price also dropped by 20 paise and sold at ₹96.64 per litre in Maharashtra’s capital.

The petrol and diesel saw price cut of 15 and 19 paise, respectively in Kolkata. With the revision, a litre of petrol was sold at ₹101.93 and diesel ₹92.13 in the West Bengal’s capital.

The price hike during this period pushed petrol prices above ₹100-a-litre mark in more than half of the country, while diesel crossed that level in at least three states.