Dussehra cheer as prices of petrol, diesel slashed again

In yet another respite to consumers, the prices of petrol and diesel were slashed on Friday. Petrol was priced at Rs 82.38 per litre (decrease of Rs 0.24), while diesel traded at Rs 75.48 which was a fall of Rs 0.10 from Wednesday’s prices. In Mumbai, prices of petrol and diesel were Rs 87.84 per litre (decrease of Rs 0.24) and Rs 79.13 per litre (fall of Rs 0.11), respectively, according to the price notification by state-owned oil firms.

On Thursday, the prices of petrol and diesel in Kolkata were Rs 84.44 and Rs 77.43, respectively. In Chennai, the prices were pegged at Rs 85.88 and Rs 79.93, respectively.

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Thursday’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 follows 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.