Petrol price hiked by Rs.1.82 a litre from Friday midnight

Petrol prices will go up by Rs.1.82 per litre, excluding taxes, from midnight Friday due to the fall in the value of the rupee and hardening of crude prices in international market, state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said.

"Since the last price change, the downwards slide of rupee has continued and USD-INR exchange rate has deteriorated to Rs.58.94 per the US dollar during the fortnight. Further, international MS prices have also increased since the last price change," the country's largest oil marketing firm said.

This is the third increase in petrol prices this month. The fuel price was hiked by Rs.0.75 per litre June 1, and Rs.2 per litre June 15.

Allowing for local taxes, the new price of petrol per litre will be Rs.68.58 in Delhi, Rs.76.10 in Kolkata, Rs.76.90 in Mumbai and Rs.71.71 in Chennai.

According to IOC, the depreciating rupee coupled with high international MS (motor spirit) prices have also resulted in the rise of under-recoveries incurred on the sale of sensitive products like diesel, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and kerosene.

"Estimated under-recovery of the corporation (IOC) on sale of these three sensitive products is expected to be around Rs.63,000 crore for the fiscal 2013-14," it added.u00a0