Sep 5: Petrol and diesel prices have been on the decline for the past couple of months but now they have been hiked due to differences in global crude oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rates. So, petrol goes costlier by Rs. 3.38 and diesel by Rs. 2.67. The impact of this hike on Car sales will be seen in coming months.

So, petrol now costs Rs. 63.47 in Delhi from its earlier price of Rs. 60.09, while diesel is now priced at Rs. 52.94 per litre, hiked from its earlier price of Rs. 50.27. This is the first such increase in prices after four reductions. Meanwhile, international oil rates have also gone up by 13 percent.

The cumulative reduction in prices of both petrol and diesel had been Rs. 5.56 per litre for petrol and Rs. 4.92 per litre for diesel with the four price reductions in the last two months. The current price rise in petrol and diesel is a move to balance the steep 13 percent rise in international crude oil prices.

The upward price revision has been brought in by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). The revise prices of both these fuels on the 1st and 16th of each month, depending upon the crude oil prices and the exchange rates.

The last upward price revision was in June 16, 2016, when petrol prices went up by 5 paise and diesel prices by Rs. 1.26. Since then, there have been four price reductions bringing in a steady decline in local fuel prices.

However, the current steep increase in crude oil prices has necessitated a steep increase in fuel prices. The new price rise has been effective since August 31 and expect this to be revised as well with changes in crude oil prices and the exchange rates.