Diesel rates for Railways, State Transport Corporations and other bulk consumers have been increased by about one rupee a litre (excluding taxes) from Saturday. The overall impact on the bulk rate prices would be around Rs 1.25 a litre.
In Delhi, diesel for such consumers will cost about Rs 59-60 a litre. With this hike, the Railways annual fuel bill will go up by around Rs 290 crore. It is, however, difficult to estimate the exact end price because bulk consumers are often offered discounts, said an oil company official.
The public sector oil marketing companies have left diesel prices unchanged for retail consumers. Diesel at petrol pumps in Delhi is sold at Rs 48.16 a litre.
The price of non-subsidised domestic LPG, meanwhile, has been reduced by almost Rs 38 a cylinder effective March 1. According to LPG distributors, a majority of the domestic LPG consumers have exhausted their quota.
On January 16, the Government had introduced dual pricing for diesel. The public sector oil marketing companies were allowed to align these prices with market rates.
In fact, according to the Economic Survey 2012-13, “the domestic prices of petroleum products, particularly diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), need to be raised in line with prices prevailing in the international market.”
On Friday (March 1), oil companies has raised retail prices of petrol by almost Rs 1.40 a litre (excluding VAT). This was the second consecutive increase in a fortnight.