Petrol and diesel prices held steady across metro cities on September 2, the latest price notification issued by fuel retailers showed.
Fuel prices have stayed unchanged for more than a month. Petrol and Diesel in Delhi costs Rs 96.72 and Rs 89.62 a litre, respectively. Petrol and diesel are priced at Rs 102.63 and Rs 94.24 in Chennai and at Rs 106.03 and Rs 92.76 in Kolkata. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold for Rs 106.31 per litre and diesel for Rs 94.27.
Commercial LPG cylinder rates were slashed by Rs 91.50 with effect from today. Now, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder will cost Rs 1,885, instead of Rs 1,976 in Delhi.
State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) have not raise petrol and diesel prices for almost five months now despite rising international oil prices.
A moderation in international oil prices has helped Indian fuel retailers to break even on petrol and domestic cooking gas LPG but they continue to lose money on diesel, the most used fuel in the country.
Centre hikes windfall profit tax on exports of diesel, ATF; raises tax on local crude
The government has hiked the windfall profit tax on the export of diesel to Rs 13.5 per litre and on jet fuel exports to Rs 9 a litre, besides raising the levy on domestically-produced crude oil in line with the hardening of global prices.
At the fourth fortnightly review, the government raised the windfall profit tax on the export of diesel to Rs 13.5 per litre from Rs 7 per litre.
The tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports too has been hiked to Rs 9 from Rs 2 per litre with effect from September 1, according to a finance ministry notification issued late Wednesday night. Alongside, the tax on domestically-produced crude oil too has been hiked to Rs 13,300 per tonne from Rs 13,000.
Oil firms on bets OPEC+ will talk up output cuts to stem sinking prices
Oil prices climbed on Friday on bets that OPEC+ will discuss output cuts at a meeting on Sept. 5, but the benchmarks were still on track to post their worst weekly drop in four on fears COVID-19 curbs in China and weak global growth will hit demand.
Brent crude futures rose $1.20, or 1.3 percent, to $93.56 a barrel at 0117 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped $1.16, or 1.3 percent, to $87.77 a barrel.
Petrol sales rebound in August, diesel lags
Petrol sales in India rebounded in August but diesel continued to show a decline over the previous month as rains in several parts chipped away demand in some sectors, preliminary industry data showed.
Petrol sales, which had dipped 5 per cent in July, increased 5.8 per cent to 2.81 million tonnes in August when compared with 2.66 million tonnes of demand in the previous month.
The consumption was almost 16 per cent higher than August 2021 and 31.7 percent more than 2.14 million tonnes in the same month in 2020. It was 20.6 percent higher than the pre-pandemic demand of 2.33 million tonnes in August 2019. Diesel, the most widely used fuel in the country, saw consumption drop 4.9 per cent to 6.11 million tonnes from 6.42 million tonnes in July.