After 16-day hike, 1 paisa relief

New Delhi, May 30

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Petrol and diesel prices were on Wednesday cut by a mere 1 paisa per litre each, the first reduction after 16 days of relentless price hikes that triggered derisive comments. After the cut, petrol now costs Rs 78.42 per litre and diesel Rs 69.30 in Delhi.

The marginal decline came amid a faux pas by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), which first announced 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 reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error, the price prevalent on May 25 was communicated as today’s price,” a senior IOC official said. “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”.

“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,” Gandhi tweeted. “P.S. A ONE paisa cut is not a suitable response to the ‘Fuel Challenge’ I threw you last week,” he said. The Opposition parties have been demanding the government cut excise duty, which it had raised nine times when oil prices had fallen between 2014 and early 2016, to give relief to consumers.

The marginal reduction comes after 16 consecutive price increases since May 14 when fuel retailers ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to pass on a spike in global oil rates. In all, petrol price was increased by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in that fortnight. Oil companies use 15-day rolling average of Singapore gasoline prices and Arab Gulf diesel prices to arrive at daily rates and so the fall in international oil rates seen in the last few days would be factored in for the revisions in the coming days, he said.

The price effected on Wednesday is based on average international rate from May 15 to May 29. — PTI/TNS

In Kerala, cut by Rs 1

• The LDF government in Kerala on Wednesday decided to reduce petrol and diesel prices in the state by Rs 1 per litre from June 1
• After a state Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government decided to slash the sales tax and bring down the fuel price to give some relief to people
• The Centre must take a cue from the state and bring down the fuel prices, he said. PTI