Petrol price cut by Rs 2.42 a litre; diesel 2.25 per litre

Petrol price was today cut by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre in step with fall in international oil prices.

Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 56.49 a litre from midnight tonight as compared to Rs 58.91 now. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 46.01 per litre as against Rs 48.26 at present.

This is the 10th straight reduction in petrol price since August and sixth in diesel since October. Despite reductions, petrol will cost more than ATF, which is of superior quality and used in aircraft.

A litre of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs Rs 46.51 per litre in Delhi.

New rates of petrol and diesel will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest fuel retailer, announced here.

After the price cuts, petrol price is the lowest since September 2010 while diesel is cheapest since March 2013.

ATF has a higher octane than petrol and diesel is a heavier fraction in the distillation process. Traditionally, auto fuels being of lesser quality than ATF would cost less.

Four consecutive excise duty hikes since November, totalling Rs 7.75 a litre on petrol and Rs 7.50 on diesel, have

however, reversed this.

But for these, the cumulative reduction of Rs 17.11 per litre in petrol price in ten cuts since August and Rs 12.96 a litre on diesel since its deregulation in October, would have been higher.

Petrol and diesel prices were last cut on January 17 by Rs 2.42 and Rs 2.25 a litre respectively.

"Since that price revision, international prices of both petrol and diesel have continued to be on a downtrend and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate has appreciated. The combined impact of both these factors warrant a decrease in retail selling prices of both petrol and diesel," IOC said.