Zoom News : May 05, 2021, 10:46 AM
New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the second day on Wednesday after a pause of 18 consecutive, as oil marketing companies decided to rise prices.In the national capital petrol prices were hiked by 19 paise per litre while diesel prices were hiked by 21 paise per litre.Petrol price on April 15 was cut by 16 paise per litre and diesel by 14 paise -- the fourth minor reduction in rates in three weeks that followed six months of relentless price increases. Petrol now costs Rs 90.40 per litre in Delhi, down from Rs 90.56, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. A litre of diesel comes for Rs 80.73 per litre as against Rs 80.87 previously. Petrol prices have gone up by a record Rs 21.58 per litre in the last one year while diesel prices have increased by Rs 19.18 a litre.Central government makes up for Rs 32.98 per litre of the price of petrol in Delhi and sales tax or VAT of the state government constitutes Rs 19.55.For diesel, the central excise adds up to Rs 31.83 and VAT to Rs 10.99. Besides, the price also includes a dealer commission of a minimum Rs 2.6 per litre on petrol and Rs 2 on diesel.Petrol and diesel prices are revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.The second wave of coronavirus sweeping the nation has pummelled fuel sales in April as local restrictions clamped to curb the spread of inflection stifled demand, preliminary data showed."At the end of April, overall fuel demand is down by about 7 per cent from pre-Covid level of April 2019," Arun Singh, Director for Marketing and Refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), said.