New Delhi: Petrol price was on Saturday cut by 32 paise a litre and diesel by 85 paise even as the government hiked excise duty on both the fuels for the second time this month to raise an additional Rs 3,700 crore in its bid to achieve the targeted fiscal deficit.

The reduction in the price of petrol and diesel is much lower than what crude oil prices that fell to below USD 30 per barrel had warranted. The gains were taken away by government which hiked the excise duty on petrol by 75 paise per litre and on diesel by Rs 2.