The retail prices of petrol and diesel remained unchanged on Saturday despite a fall in crude oil prices in the international market.
According to the official website of Indian Oil Corporation, on Friday, petrol now costs Rs 71.26 per litre in Delhi, Rs 76.31 per litre in Mumbai. Similarly, diesel costs Rs 69.59 a litre in Delhi, Rs 66.21 a litre in Mumbai. In Kolkata, a litre of petrol will cost Rs 73.30 per litre whereas diesel is now priced at Rs 65.62 per litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol will cost Rs 72.28 per litre whereas diesel is now priced at Rs 65.71 per litre.
Petrol price in the national capital was hiked by Rs 1.67 a litre on Tuesday and diesel by a steep Rs 7.10 per litre after the Delhi government raised local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT) on the two fuels. This follows Delhi government's decision to raise VAT on petrol to 30 per cent from 27 per cent, previously. In case of diesel, VAT has been almost doubled to 30 per cent from 16.75 per cent.
Crude oil prices on Friday rose Rs 40 to Rs 1,874 per barrel as participants widened their positions on firm spot demand. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in May traded higher by Rs 40, or 2.18 per cent, to Rs 1,874 per barrel in 7,380 lots.
Crude oil for June delivery was up by Rs 29, or 1.47 per cent, to Rs 2,002 per barrel with an open interest of 1,041 lots. Globally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading up by 4.29 per cent at USD 24.56 per barrel and Brent crude rose 2.68 per cent to USD 30.25 per barrel in New York.
