Oil PSUs, who had kept rates unchanged for nearly three weeks before Karnataka went to polls despite input cost spiking, reverted to daily revision in prices no sooner had the state voted to elect a new government on Saturday.93, according to a price notification issued by state-owned oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 74.14. The central government had cut excise duty by Rs 2 per litre in October 2017, when petrol price reached Rs 70. Petrol and diesel prices were last revised on April 24 when they were hiked by 13 paise each. However, a global rally in crude prices pushed domestic fuel prices far higher than those levels.Oil PSUs have refused to acknowledge if the freeze followed a government diktat so as to help ruling BJP in Karnataka.63 a litre on April 24, to USD 82.. Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg have in the past weeks ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty to cushion the increases warranted from a spike in international oil price. 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. This led to its excise mop up more than doubling to Rs 2,42,000 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 99,000 crore in 2014-15.89 per litre and petrol to Rs 68.63.

The government had in June 2010 freed petrol price from its control and the diesel rates were deregulated in October 2014.68 per barrel to USD 88. State-owned oil marketing companies are estimated to have lost about Rs 500 crore as they absorbed higher cost resulting from the spike in international oil rates and fall in rupee against the US dollar. Oil PSUs, which have been since June last year revising auto fuel prices on a daily basis to reflect changes in the cost, have kept pump rates static since April 24, an analysis of daily price notification issued by oil companies showed.88 per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs 59.77 a litre and that on diesel by Rs 13.62, making imports costlier.5 a litre in last 19 days, an analyst tracking the sector said.63 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 66.New Delhi: After a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus, petrol price was today hiked by 17 paise a litre and diesel by 21 paise household appliance injection mold as PSU oil firms began passing on the spike witnessed in international rates to consumers. But prices were frozen thereafter. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had last month denied reports of a directive to state oil firms to absorb at least Re 1 a litre hike by not raising prices in line with cost. The government had between November 2014 and January 2016 raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 11.98 now, according to sources privy to fuel pricing methodology.

They started moving up immediately after polling for assembly elections in Gujarat concluded on December 14, leading to speculation that government may have asked oil companies to hold the prices. This despite benchmark international rate for petrol going up from USD 78.80 per litre from Rs 74.84 per barrel, which was used for raising the price to Rs 74.Indian Oil Corp (IOC) Chairman Sanjiv Singh last week said that the state-owned firms were "temporarily moderating" prices to avoid sharp spikes and panic among consumers. Also, the rupee has weakened to Rs 67 per US dollar from Rs 66. The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre. With this, diesel prices have touched a record high while petrol is at a 56-month peak.47 per litre to take away gains arising from plummeting global oil prices. Prices have since then moved more or less in tandem with international rates barring a few exceptions like the period before a crucial election. State-owned oil companies in June last year dumped the 15-year old practice of revising rates on 1st and 16th of every month and instead adopted a dynamic daily price revision to instantly reflect changes in cost. The benchmark international diesel rates during this period have climbed from USD 84.38 per litre. If this practice was followed in letter and spirit, petrol and diesel prices should have been increased by Rs 1. Because of the reduction in excise duty, diesel prices had on October 4, 2017, come down to Rs 56.14 a litre from Rs 65