Petrol and diesel prices up

Petrol price has been hiked by 75 paisa per litre and diesel by 50 paisa a litre as rupee hit 11-month low making oil imports costlier. The increase in rates, which are excluding local sales tax or VAT, will be effective from midnight Friday. Also, the oil companies cut price of cooking gas (LPG) that consumers have to buy beyond their quota of nine subsidised cylinders in a year, by Rs 45 per bottle.

The increase in petrol price is the first in three months, the last hike being on March 1. Since then, petrol prices had been cut four times on falling global oil prices. For diesel, this is the fifth increase in rates this year. Despite the fifth increase in diesel rates, oil firms are losing Rs 4.87 per litre on the nation's most consumed fuel.