Petrol Rs. 2.95, Diesel 63 paise dearer in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, 31 August 2013

Oil companies today hiked the price of petrol by Rs 2.35 per litre, without taxes on firming international oil prices and the free-falling rupee. The price of diesel was also raised by 50 paise per litre.

In Gujarat, the effective hike in petrol price will be Rs. 2.95 per litre, and in diesel price Rs. 63 paise per litre.

Petrol will be available for Rs. 78/litre and disel for Rs. 57.64/litre in Ahmedabad. The new prices will take effect from midnight.

This is a sixth hike in petrol prices in two months, whereas diesel prices have been hiked eight times since January 17.

Before this hike, since June, the price of petrol has gone up by a cumulative Rs 6.82 per litre, while diesel prices have gone up by Rs 3.75 this year.

Oil firms review the price of petrol every two weeks. While the price of petrol has been deregulated since June 2010 and the price is market determined, the government still controls the price of diesel and allows only minor revisions.

The rupee, which plays an important role in the price of fuel as oil companies buy crude in dollars, hit an all-time low of 68.85 on August 28 and has been the worst performing Asian currency lately, falling over 15 per cent in the last three months.

The rupee closed at 66.70 per dollar on Friday triggering strong buying in stock markets. It ended higher for a second straight day.