In four days, petrol prices cut by 23 paise, diesel prices reduced by 20 paise

NEW DELHI: Prices for petrol and diesel were cut by nine paise on Saturday. With the decrease on Saturday, the prices of petrol have been reduced by 23 paise in the last four days while diesel prices have seen a marginal 20 paise cut. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 78.20 a litre and diesel costs Rs 69.11 per litre.

The revised petrol prices in other metro cities are - Rs 80.84 in Kolkata, Rs 86.01 in Mumbai and Rs 81.19 in Chennai while the revised diesel prices in other metro cities are - Rs 71.66 in Kolkata, Rs 73.58 in Mumbai and 72.97 in Chennai. 

Price for petrol and diesel had fallen by 6 paise and 5 paise respectively on Friday and by 7 paise and 5 paise on Thursday. On Wednesday, there was a confusion over the amount of decrease. While in morning there was an announcement about petrol prices going down by 60 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, and diesel prices going down by 56 paise in Delhi and 59 paise in Mumbai, it was later clarified by the Indian Oil Corporation that the reduction was of merely 1 paisa per litre.

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.