PETROL PRICE HIKED BY Rs.1.40 PER LITRE

PETROL PRICE HIKED

 BY Rs.1.40 PER LITRE

Petrol price was on Friday,1^st March,2013, hiked by Rs. 1.40 per litre, the second big increase in rates in as many weeks.A rise in international oil prices and depreciation in rupee have necessitated a Rs. 1.40 per litre increase in price of petrol with effect from Friday midnight, said a statement by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).The hike is excluding local sales tax or VAT and the actual increase in rate for consumers will be higher after including the tax incidence.The previous petrol price hike was Rs. 1.50 a litre excluding VAT on February 16, 2013.The increase in price for consumers in Delhi will be Rs. 1.68 per litre and the new rate will be Rs. 70.74 a litre from Saturday as against Rs. 69.06 a litre currently.“The price increase has been necessitated by two factors — the international gasoline (petrol) prices have increased from $128.57 per barrel to $131.00 a barrel since the last revision; and the rupee has depreciated from Rs. 53.43 to Rs. 54.15 per dollar during the period,” the statement said.

Petrol in Mumbai will cost Rs. 77.66 a litre as against Rs. 75.89 per litre currently.“The trends of international oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate shall be closely monitored and the same shall be reflected in future price changes,” said IOC, the nation’s largest oil retailer.Apart from losses on sale of petrol, oil firms are suffering under-recovery (revenue loss) on sale of diesel of Rs. 11.26 per litre, kerosene of Rs. 33.43 a litre and LPG of Rs. 439 per cylinder. The loss on diesel has risen from Rs. 10.72 a litre on February 16, when its rates were increased by 45 paise excluding VAT.IOC said it will end the fiscal with a revenue loss of Rs. 86,500 crore on sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene. The industry, comprising of IOC and two other state firms, will be Rs. 163,500 crore during current year.Following are the revised prices of petrol at Indian Oil Corp (IOC) petrol pumps in four metros.Rates at pumps of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) vary by a few paise. Delhi 69.06 (current price) 70.74 (revised price) 1.68 (increase)Kolkata 76.59 78.34 1.75 ,Mumbai 75.89 77.66 1.77 ,Chennai 72.17 73.95 1.78.

Prof. John Kurakar