Agencies
Petrol prices today: Petrol prices were cut for the sixth consecutive day across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. Notably, the prices were slashed by 15 paise on Monday to Rs 77.96 in Delhi, 80.6 in Kolkata, 85.77 in Mumbai and 80.84 in Chennai. In the last six days, petrol prices have been lowered by 47 paise per litre in Delhi and Mumbai, 46 paise per litre in Kolkata and 49 paise per litre in Chennai, data from IOC website showed.
Diesel prices have come down by 34 paise per litre in Delhi and Kolkata, and 36 paise per litre in Mumbai and Chennai. However, the slash in prices comes after 16 consecutive days of hike following the Karnataka election. Petrol prices had risen by more than Rs 3.7 in the four metros, following two weeks of consecutive increase in rates.
The government said that it is looking at various solution to provide relief to the common man. More relief may be on cards, as the government may soon may ask state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to bear fuel subsidy to help cut petrol and diesel prices. According to a report in The Indian Express, a meeting was held last week, at Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s residence. The newspaper also reported a government official as saying that an announcement could come anytime soon.
A government official had earlier told The Indian Express that ONGC’s contribution could pare the required price increase in petrol and diesel by one-third with an additional marginal relief provided by reducing the dealers’ commission by 18 paise per litre on diesel and 23 paise per litre on petrol. Further, ONGC’s burden sharing would provide close to Rs 30,000 crore for this exercise, which is equivalent to a Rs 2-per litre cut in excise duty on both petrol and diesel |
