Prices of petrol and diesel were hiked by state-owned oil companies after a gap of 19 days on Monday. For nearly three weeks Oil companies had kept rates unchanged despite an increase in the input cost. Now after 2 days of Karnataka assembly elections they have reverted to the daily revision of petrol and diesel.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh last week said that the state-owned firms were “temporarily moderating” prices to avoid sharp spikes and panic among consumers.
State-owned oil companies are estimated to have lost about Rs 500 crore as they absorbed higher cost resulting from the spike in international oil rates and fall in rupee against the US dollar.
In Delhi, price of petrol was hiked by 17 paise from Rs 74.63 to Rs 74.80 per litre while price of diesel was increased by 21 paise from Rs 65.93 to Rs 66.14 per litre.
Price of petrol is at a 56 month peak while prices of diesel have touched a record high.
According to the IOC website, prices of petrol and diesel in four metros on Monday are as follows: