Fuel Prices Hiked After 19-Day Hiatus

New Delhi: After a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus, petrol price was hiked by 17 paise a litre and diesel by 21 paise on Monday.

The PSUs have blamed the spike in international rates for the fuel price hike.

The price hike comes two days after the conclusion of the crucial Karnataka elections. The oil PSUs has so far kept the rates constant despite rise in input cost since April 24.

The prices of fuels is being auto revised since June last year.

On April 24, the petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 13 paise each. The price remained fixed despite the petrol rate in the international market rising from USD 78.84 per barrel on April 24 to USD 82.98 now.

Similarly, for diesel, the international diesel rates have increased from USD 84.68 per barrel to USD 88.63.

A similar situation was witnessed ahead of Gujarat polls when state-owned retailers like Indian Oil Corporation had cut the prices by 1-3 paise in December 2017.

The prices at petrol pumps of state-owned fuel retailers like Indian Oil Corp (IOC) were cut by 1-3 paise every day in the first fortnight of December 2017 before Gujarat went to polls. However, the prices started increasing once again after the Gujarat elections ended on December 14.