Petrol prices up Rs3.14 a litre
15 Sep 2011
Petrol prices across the country will go up by 5 per cent (or about Rs3.14 per litre) as state-run oil retailers have announced a fresh price hike effective midnight.
The hike comes in the wake of a sudden fall in the value of the Indian rupee to a two-year low of over 48 against the US dollar, which further increased the cost of importing crude oil for oil refiners.
Oil companies, however, are unable to hike prices of diesel, which is more widely consumed in the country as the government has not yet freed the popular fuel from price control.
Petrol, although now freely priced in India, does not help oil companies fully recover their losses due to subsidised sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene.
Petroleum secretary G C Chaturvedi has denied any plan to hike diesel prices as that would have an immediate impact on an already buoyant inflation.
Diesel is currently being sold at a subsidy of Rs6.05 a litre, kerosene at Rs23.25 per litre while domestic LPG rates are under-priced by Rs267 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
.jpg "RBI keeps repo rate unchanged as focus remains on inflation")
.jpg "Indian Oil, Panasonic team up for lithium-ion cell production in India")
