Petrol, diesel prices hiked from Saturday midnight

The price of petrol has been hiked by Rs 1.39 per litre and that of diesel by Rs 1.04 a litre, in sync with firming international rates.

The hike comes the on back of a Rs 4.85 per litre reduction in rates of petrol and Rs 3.41 a litre in diesel effected from April 1.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest fuel retailer, said the price of petrol was being increased by Rs 1.39 per litre, excluding state levies, and that of diesel by Rs 1.04 (excluding state levies) with effect from Saturday midnight.

The actual increase in price, however, will be more after taking into account local VAT.

Petrol in Delhi currently costs Rs 66.29 a litre while a litre of diesel is priced at Rs 55.61.

"The current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and the INR-USD exchange rate warrant increase in selling price of petrol and diesel, the impact of which is being passed on to the consumers with this price revision," IOC said in a statement.

The movement of prices in the international oil market and the INR-USD exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes, it said.

IOC also said it intends to shortly start daily changes in price of petrol and diesel on a pilot basis, in Udaipur, Jamshedpur, Pondicherry, Chandigarh and Visakhapatnam.

Photograph: Reuters.