Petrol, diesel prices down for the first time since relief measures

Lower crude oil cost pulled the prices of key domestic transportation fuels -- petrol and diesel -- lower in the national capital on Thursday by 21 and 11 paise respectively.

According to the IndianOil Corporation's data, petrol was priced at Rs 82.62 per litre in the national capital, down from Rs 82.83 on Wednesday.

As per the data, the key transportation fuel was priced at Rs 88.08 in Mumbai, Rs 84.44 in Kolkata and Rs 85.88 per litre in Chennai which was down 22 paise from its previous rate.

Before today's marginal cut, the petrol price in Delhi rose by Rs 1.11 in just 13 days after a total reduction of Rs 2.50 on October 5, wiping out nearly half of the relief.

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 Thursday across all metros by 11 paise.

On Thursday, the diesel price in Mumbai was at Rs 79.24 from its previous price of 79.35 on Wednesday.

Prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai declined to Rs 75.58, Rs 77.43 and Rs 79.93 a litre from the Wednesday's Rs 75.69, Rs 77.54 and Rs 80.04, respectively.

On a daily basis, the decline in petrol and diesel prices comes 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 Thursday, the Brent crude was priced below $80 per barrel, which in recent past traded around $85 a barrel.

--IANS

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