New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices were Wednesday cut by 1 paisa per litre each, the first reduction after 16 days of relentless price hikes that triggered derisive comments.
But the marginal decline had its share of excitement with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) first announcing a reduction of 60 paise – the biggest since daily price revision was introduced in mid-June last year, only to retract it within a couple of hours citing a technical error.
The oil companies Wednesday morning announced a reduction in petrol price by 60 paise to `77.83 a litre and diesel by 56 paise to `68.75 in Delhi. This was rectified to 1 paisa a litre. “The reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error the price prevalent May 25 was communicated as Wednesday’s price,” a senior official of Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer, explained.
After the 1 paisa cut, petrol in Delhi now costs `78.42 per litre and diesel `69.30. “There is a softening in international oil prices and rupee has strengthened against the US dollar, making imports cheaper. All this will reflect in reduction in retail rates in coming days,” he said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi was quick to slam the reduction saying if this was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of a “prank”, it was “childish and in poor taste”. The opposition parties have been demanding the government cut excise duty, which it had raised 9 times when oil prices had fallen between 2014 and early 2016, to give relief to consumers.
“Dear PM, You’ve cut the price of Petrol and Diesel today by 1 paisa. ONE paisa!?? If this is your idea of a prank, it’s childish and in poor taste,” (sic) Gandhi tweeted. “P.S. A ONE paisa cut is not a suitable response to the ‘Fuel Challenge’ I threw you last week,” (sic) he said.
Kerala to cut prices by Re 1
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government Wednesday announced a Re 1 per reduction per litre in the price of petrol and diesel from Friday, in a bid to bring some relief to the people hit by rising fuel costs. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “The state government has decided to forego Re 1 from its tax portion and as a result, the loss to the exchequer would be `509 crore in a year.