New Delhi:
State-owned oil firms today hiked jet fuel prices by 2 per cent, the seventh straight increase in rates since October when international crude oil prices started climbing.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) rates in Delhi have been hiked by Rs 948.5 per kilolitre (kl), or 1.98 per cent, to Rs 48,764 per kl with effect from midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The latest hike comes on the back of a Rs 935 per kl hike from January 1 and a massive 3.6 per cent increase on December 15.
With this hike, IOC and sister public sector retailers Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have raised prices of jet fuel, or ATF, on seven occasions since October.
The ATF price in Delhi on October 1 was Rs 40,728.52 per kl. The rates were increased by Rs 8,035.48 per kl or 19.7 per cent in seven tranches since then, in tandem with a surge in global oil prices which have risen to USD 98 per barrel mark.
Jet fuel will cost Rs 49,046 per kl in Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, from tomorrow, as against Rs 48,058.56 per kl currently.
No comment could be immediately obtained from airline companies on the impact of the latest price hike on passenger fares.
Fuel cost accounts for 40 per cent of the airlines' operating cost.
The three state-owned oil retailers revise jet fuel prices on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on the average international price in the preceding fortnight.
In Kolkata, the ATF price has been hiked by Rs 1027.26 to Rs 56,186 per kl, while in Chennai, it will cost Rs 52,323 per kl as against Rs 51,275.32 per kl currently.