Fuel prices slashed for ninth day; petrol at Rs 80.85 per litre, diesel at Rs 74.73 in Delhi

For the ninth day in a row, the prices of petrol and diesel saw a decline on Friday bringing the much-needed relief to customers from relentless hikes. The petrol price saw a Rs 0.25 fall in Delhi and Mumbai taking the rates to Rs 80.85 per litre and Rs 86.33 per litre, respectively. Price of diesel, on the other hand, saw a marginal fall and was pegged at Rs 74.73 per litre in Delhi and Rs 78.33 per litre in Mumbai.

The prices of petrol and diesel in Kolkata were Rs 82.95 and Rs 76.65, respectively. In Chennai, the prices were pegged at Rs 84.28 and Rs 79.09, respectively.

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October 18’s cut in the prices of fuel was the first reduction in over two months because of a drop in the cost of production. Petrol and diesel prices were cut by 21 paise and 11 paise across cities, a notification by oil retailers said.

The price cut followed international oil prices trading near the lowest level in a month on a bigger-than-expected gain in American stockpiles. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery traded 11 cents lower at $69.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent for December settlement was at $79.89 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent had earlier this month hit a four-year high of $86.74 a barrel, according to news agency PTI.

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On October 4, fuel prices were cut by a minimum Rs 2.50 on October 5 when the government’s only second cut in excise duty of Rs 1.50 per litre and state-owned fuel retailers providing a Re 1 per litre subsidy came into effect. In BJP-ruled states, the reduction was higher as they matched the cut with a similar reduction in local sales tax or VAT.

Delhi, which did not cut VAT on fuel, still has the cheapest fuel among all the metros and bulk of state capital as it levies lower taxes. Mumbai despite reducing VAT on petrol still has the highest priced fuel.