The government has announced a reduction in excise duty on fuel prices on the eve of Diwali.
Excise duty on petrol has been reduced by Rs 5 and on diesel by Rs 10 from tomorrow. This will result in cut in fuel prices.
Reduction in excise duty on diesel will benefit the farming community during the upcoming Rabi season.
The Centre has urged States to cut value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel.
Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged across the country on Wednesday.
In Delhi, petrol costs Rs 110.04 a litre while the rate of diesel was Rs 98.42 per litre.
In Mumbai, a litre of petrol currently costs Rs 115.85, and diesel is sold at Rs 106.62 per litre.
In Chennai, a litre of petrol is priced at Rs 106.66. On Wednesday, the price of a litre of diesel was Rs 102.59 per litre.
Petrol in Kolkata costs Rs 110.49 per litre while diesel costs Rs 101.56 a litre.
Fuel prices were hiked on Tuesday for the seventh consecutive day. Diesel prices have increased on 30 out of the last 39 days taking up its retail price by Rs 9.90 per litre in Delhi.
With diesel price rising sharply, the fuel is now available at over Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country. It is very close to breaching the mark even in Delhi where it had rapidly climbed to Rs 98.42 a litre on Monday.
Petrol prices had maintained stability since September 5 but oil companies finally raised its pump prices last week and this week given a spurt in the product prices lately. Petrol prices have also risen on 28 of the previous 35 days taking up its pump price by Rs 8.85 per litre.
Crude price has been on a surge rising over three year high level of over $ 85 a barrel now as global demand remains firm while OPEC+ continues to move slowly on increasing production. It has fallen a bit to around $84 a barrel after China released some oil from its reserve to address supply concerns.
Since September 5, when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around $9-10 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.
