15 June 2013

Petrol price hiked by Rs 2 per litre starting midnight

 Petrol price hiked by Rs 2 per litre starting midnight
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Petrol price was on Saturday hiked by a steep Rs.2 a litre, the second increase in rates this month, as devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar made imports costlier.
The hike, which is effective from midnight tonight, is excluding local sales tax or value added tax (VAT), and the actual increase for consumers will be higher.
Petrol price in Delhi was hiked by Rs.2.40 a litre to Rs.66.39 from Rs.63.99 previously.
This is the second increase in rates this month.
Oil firms had from 1 June hiked prices by 75 paisa, excluding VAT.
However unlike last time, there will be no change in the price of diesel.
In Mumbai, petrol price has been increased by Rs.2.52 to Rs.74.60, while in Kolkata the rates are up from Rs.71.29 to Rs.73.79 per litre.
In Chennai, prices were hiked by Rs.2.54 to Rs.69.39. “Since last price change, the slide in rupee (against the US dollar) has continued and the USD-INR Exchange rate has deteriorated from Rs.55.32 to Rs 57.08 per USD,” said Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), the nation’s largest oil firm.
IOC said international petrol prices have also hardened during this period. “The combined impact of both these factors, mainly the depreciation of the rupee, has warranted the increase in petrol prices by Rs.2 per litre (excluding VAT),” it said in a statement.
The 1 June increase in petrol price was the first in three months. The previous hike was on 1 March, which was followed by rates being cut four times on falling global oil prices.
Diesel prices have been hiked on five occasions since January when the government authorized state-owned oil firms to increase prices by up to 50 paisa per litre every month till entire losses on the fuel are wiped out.
Since diesel price was hiked by 50 paisa, excluding VAT, on 1 June, the next increase may happen this month end.
IOC said the devaluation of the rupee has led to a widening of losses on diesel and cooking fuel.
Losses on diesel has widened to Rs.6.31 a litre from Rs.4.87 at the beginning of the month. Besides, oil firms are also losing Rs.27.75 per litre on kerosene and Rs.335.14 on sale of every 14.2-kg domestic cooking gas cylinder.
The company said at the current rate, IOC will end the fiscal with a total revenue loss of about Rs.60,000 crore while the industry (IOC plus other state-owned fuel marketing firms) will incur a Rs.112,500 crore loss. “The movement in international oil markets and INR-USD exchange rate has been put on a close watch and developing trends will be reflected in future price changes,” it added.

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