Petrol, diesel prices down for fourth successive day

State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) cut the prices of key domestic transport fuels -- petrol and diesel -- for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday on lower global crude oil prices.

According to the IndianOil Corp data, petrol was priced at Rs 81.74 per litre in the national capital on Sunday.

Across the other major metros, petrol was priced at Rs 87.21 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 83.58 in Kolkata and Rs 84.96 in Chennai on Sunday.

As per the country's pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend on international fuel prices on a 15-day average besides the value of the rupee.

Prices vary from region to region due to local taxes as the product is excluded from the GST regime. Delhi has the lowest tax rate among the four metro cities.

In tandem with petrol, the cost of diesel declined on Sunday across the four metros.

The price of diesel in Mumbai was at 78.82, down from its previous price of 79 on Saturday.

Similarly, prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai declined to Rs 75.19, Rs 77.04 and Rs 79.51 a litre, respectively, from Saturday's Rs 75.36, Rs 77.21 and Rs 79.69, respectively.

The downward revision also comes on the back of multiple factors such as lower international crude oil cost and a strengthened rupee against the US dollar.

Accordingly, UK Brent crude was priced below $80 per barrel, which in the recent past traded around $85 a barrel, while the rupee closed on Friday at 73.50 to the greenback from its previous close of 73.61 to a US dollar.

On a daily basis, the decline in petrol and diesel prices commenced on Thursday nearly a fortnight after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a cut in excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre.

Additionally, the state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) had been mandated to reduce prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 a litre. This is the first time after the announcement that the prices have come down.

The downward revision also comes on the back of multiple factors such as lower international crude oil cost. On Friday, Brent crude was priced at $79.78 per barrel, which in the recent past had traded at over $86.

--IANS

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