Petrol, diesel prices unmoved once again. 5 things to know

  • No cut in petrol and diesel rates for over a month
  • Crude oil rates have fallen below the $30 mark a barrel

Staff Writer
Published16 Apr 2020, 08:46 AM IST
Owners mark the lines for vehicles and customers to follow the norms of social distancing at the petrol pump during the nationwide lockdown imposed in wake of coronavirus outbreak, in Lucknow on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)
Owners mark the lines for vehicles and customers to follow the norms of social distancing at the petrol pump during the nationwide lockdown imposed in wake of coronavirus outbreak, in Lucknow on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)

State-run fuel retailers today left the price of petrol and diesel untouched once again for the 31st day in a row. Barring cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata where the state government has hiked VAT, fuel rates have been stagnant in India despite a daily review at 6 am.

As demand for petrol and diesel plunged by around 70% during lockdown, refiners are struggling to keep themselves running. In one of such rare occasions, even state-run refiners have started exporting diesel.

R. Ramachandran, director of refineries at Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said there is still some demand for diesel from China but a further erosion in consumption is likely to lead to additional cuts to crude processing rates. India’s state-owned refiners typically produce fuel for domestic customers, leaving the business of exporting to privately-held companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Nayara Energy Ltd.

In the international market, Brent lost more than 6% yesterday after the United States reported its biggest weekly inventory build on record, while global demand is expected to fall to quarter-century lows due to the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude was up 2.5% today, at $28.38 a barrel.

In Delhi, a litre of petrol is priced at 69.59 per litre and diesel at 62.29 per litre today. In Mumbai, petrol is selling at 76.31 per litre and diesel at 66.21 per litre. In Chennai, a litre of petrol will cost 72.28 per litre whereas diesel is now priced at 65.71 per litre.

In Bengaluru, petrol is now selling at 73.55 and diesel at 65.96. In Hyderabad, petrol pumps are charging 73.97 for petrol and 67.82 for diesel. If you are in Gurgaon, you will have to shell out 70.21 for petrol and 62.08 for diesel. In Kolkata, petrol pumps are charging 73.30 for petrol and 65.62 for diesel.

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