Petrol prices cut by Rs 1 a litre in India

Petrol prices have once again been cut, this time by Rs 1 per litre, spelling good news for the owners of petrol-owned vehicles.

 The cut, which has come into effect from midnight of October 15, is the fifth consecutive drop in petrol prices since August 1, 2014. With this latest cut, the price of petrol per litre stands at Rs 74.46 in Mumbai, Rs 66.65 in Delhi, Rs 69.59 in Chennai and Rs 74.21 in Kolkata. The latest cut in prices is attributed to the fall in international oil prices.

As per a statement from Indian Oil Corporation, the largest oil marketing company in the country, “Since the last price change, international petrol prices have continued to show a downward trend. Despite the Indian rupee and US dollar depreciation, the fall in international oil prices warrants a decrease in the selling price of petrol in the domestic market.” Petrol prices were last revised on October 1 when the retail selling price was reduced by Rs 0.65/litre.

According to Reuters, oil prices plunged by nearly $3 (Rs 184) a barrel on Thursday after the International Energy Agency(IEA) cut its estimates for oil demand growth by 250,000 barrels per day for this year and by 90,000 barrels per day for 2015. This means that the growth will be half of what it was expected to be in June. 

This year, petrol price was at its highest in India on March 1 at Rs 82.07 per litre (in Mumbai). Since then, prices of the fuel have dropped by Rs 7.61 per litre, which has also led to a gradual shift in consumer demand towards buying petrol-engined cars. Many cars in the B segment like the Hyundai Grand i10 and the Chevrolet Sail-UVA, and entry level sedans like the Honda Amaze have been increasingly selling more petrol variants than diesel variants.

At present, the difference between petrol and diesel prices is only Rs 7.2 a litre. The government is also considering reducing the price of diesel in the near future by Rs 2-3 per litre.

The latest petrol prices across four metros are given as under: