Government cuts Petrol, Diesel prices

Bringing some respite to people, who were reeling from continuous fuel price hike, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a cut of Rs 2.50 per litre on both petrol and diesel, and directed the state governments to implement the same.

Briefing the media, Jaitley said, "Excise duty to be reduced by Rs 1.50 and Oil Marketing Companies will absorb one rupee. So, a total of Rs.2.50 will be reduced on both diesel and petrol."

"We are writing to the state governments that as the central government is cutting Rs 2.50 on both petrol and diesel, they do the same," Jaitley added.

The fuel prices had been going up every day for last few weeks, burning a hole in people's pockets. In Mumbai, petrol rates had breached Rs 90 per litre.

Apart from surging fuel price, the Indian rupee, on Thursday, opened at a fresh record low of 73.76 per US dollar, heavily impacting the market.

The markets opened in red on with the Sensex witnessing a sharp fall of 614.47 points to open at 35,361.16.