Get ready for cheaper petrol and diesel prices from April 1, if the public sector oil companies — Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation — decide to pass on the drop in international crude oil and product prices to the consumers.

The cut could be as much as ₹2 a litre for petrol and ₹3 a litre for diesel, according to industry trackers.

This revision will be coming after almost a month. The companies normally review petrol and diesel prices every fortnight, but in March it has been done just once. International prices remaining flat could be one of the reasons for prices not changing in the second fortnight of March.

Following the drop in global oil prices, the rate at which Indian refiners buy their crude oil has also fallen. The price of the Indian basket of crude oil has settled near $50 a barrel for the current fortnight, over $5/bbl lower than the price on March 1, according to Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell.

According to data compiled by analysts, internationally, the average price of diesel has fallen by 10 per cent from the March 1 level. The average price of petrol has dipped 5.5 per cent since March 1. The rupee has also appreciated by 2 per cent, lowering the currency exchange burden on companies.

Window open

Sumit Pokharna, Oil and Gas Research Analyst at Kotak Securities, told BusinessLine , “Oil marketing companies have a window of lowering petrol price in the range of ₹2 to ₹2.50 per litre and diesel price in the window of up to ₹3 per litre.”

The price of petrol in Delhi stands at ₹71.33 per litre, diesel is at ₹59.10 per litre.

The price of Aviation Turbine Fuel is also expected to fall. The oil companies review ATF prices on monthly basis. ATF price stands at ₹54,293.38 per kilolitre in Delhi.

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