Business

Petrol and diesel prices reduced by 1 paisa, clarifies IOC

New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Wednesday corrected earlier figures of reduction in both petrol and diesel prices.

Earlier in the morning IOC in its website said that petrol prices went down by 60 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai. Similarly Diesel prices went down by 56 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai.

However, the exact reduction in petrol and diesel prices after a 16-consecutive day hike was just 1 paise. IOC in a statement said: “There was a technical glitch in posting the selling prices of petrol and diesel. The selling prices of petrol and diesel with effect from May 30, 2018 have been rectified. Today, there is a minor reduction in fuel prices.”

Prices of the key transportation fuel in the four metro cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai were at Rs 78.42, Rs 81.05, Rs 86.23 and Rs 81.42 a litre on Wednesday, according to the data on the IOC website.

In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel was sold Rs 69.30, Rs 71.85, Rs 73.78 and Rs 73.17 per litre, respectively.

Oil companies use 15-day rolling average of Singapore gasoline prices and Arab Gulf diesel prices to arrive at daily rates and so the fall in international oil rates seen in the last few days would be factored in for the revisions in the coming days.

The reduction comes after 16 consecutive price increases since May 14 when fuel retailers ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to pass on a spike in global oil rates. In all, petrol price was increased by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in that fortnight.

Prices vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT. Delhi has the cheapest price among all metros and most state capitals.