Indian Oil cuts petrol prices by 6 paise, diesel by 5 paise

New Delhi: State-run Indian Oil Corp. Ltd today cut diesel and petrol prices by 5 paise and 6 paise per litre, respectively, after automobile fuel prices reached record highs on Tuesday.

Friday marked the third day of meagre petrol price cut that comes at a time when the government is exploring a mechanism that may involve state run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) share the subsidy burden on automobile fuels.

Diesel and petrol price today in Delhi are Rs69.20/litre and Rs78.29/litre, respectively, at Indian Oil petrol pumps.

Retail prices of petrol and diesel in India track the global prices of these auto fuels, not crude, though they are broadly linked to crude oil price trends, which have firmed up.

In response to a query about whether ONGC was asked to share the subsidy burden, chairman and managing director Shashi Shanker on Thursday evening said, “There has been no communication with regard to subsidy sharing.”

Petrol prices were raised daily since 14 May after three state-run firms—Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL)—refrained from increasing prices since 24 April and paused it while the Karnataka election campaign was going on.

With the dynamic fuel pricing introduced in June 2017, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has maintained that it has no role in pricing. Petrol prices were deregulated in June 2010 by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government decontrolled diesel prices in October 2014.

Indian Oil reduced petrol and diesel prices by 1 paisa per litre on Wednesday—a move that was mocked by the opposition. Also, the Left-front government in Kerala announced on Wednesday to cut fuel prices by Rs1 per litre from Friday, scoring a political point against the centre amid record prices.

With fuel prices reaching record highs in India, there has been a demand for a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel ahead of 2019 general elections. However, the NDA government has signalled its intent to stay the course on fuel pricing reforms and said that it was working toward a “long-term solution”.