The PSU oil marketing companies on Thursday hiked petrol prices by Rs 3.14 per litre in New Delhi to offset losses due to the rupee’s weakening against the dollar. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were also hiked by 2.5 per cent.
Consumers should be prepared for further pain: the EGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to meet Friday to consider limiting the number of subsidised LPG cylinders for a household to 4-6 a year. If someone wants to buy more, a cylinder will cost close to `700. This would apply to those who own a car, two-wheeler, house or are income-tax payers.
Late-night reports indicate that Trinamul Congress and DMK ministers might boycott the meeting in protest over the petrol price hike.
Thursday’s hike was the third petrol price increase this year and ninth since petrol prices were decontrolled in June last year. The last increase was in May 2011, when petrol prices were increased by a steep `5.
In June, the government had hiked the prices of diesel (`3/litre), kerosene (`2/litre) and LPG (`50/cylinder).
Petrol will now cost `66.84 in New Delhi, while in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai it has crossed the `70 mark for the first time.
“The factors resulting in revision of the petrol price are the increase in the international price (FOB) of petrol and the devaluation of the rupee. The FOB for petrol was $119.41 per barrel in the past fortnight, which has gone up to $125.18 per barrel, an increase of 4.8 per cent,” said Indian Oil Corporation. It added that loss on petrol sales till September 15 was `2,427 crores, which was not passed on to consumers.