60 Paise Cut An "Error". After A Fortnight, 1 Paisa Petrol Price Cut

Petrol and diesel prices were marginally lowered on Wednesday, after sixteen days of consecutive hikes. The marginal reduction of 1 paisa per litre comes in the wake of some softening in global crude prices. Despite Wednesday's mild reduction, petrol and diesel prices are still near all-time highs in some cities, including Delhi and Mumbai. Indian Oil Corporation had earlier on Wednesday announced the reduction to be in the range of 56-63 paise a litre on its website. However, within hours, India's biggest oil marketing company revised the prices on its website. "The reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error the price prevalent on May 25 was communicated as today's price," news agency Press Trust of India cited a senior official of Indian Oil Corporation as saying.

Here are five things to know about petrol and diesel prices today:

1. With effect from 6 am on Wednesday, petrol prices were at Rs 78.42 per litre in Delhi, Rs 81.05 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 86.23 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 81.42 per litre in Chennai, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailer. Diesel prices were at Rs 69.3 a litre, Rs 71.85 a litre, Rs 73.78 a litre and Rs 73.17 a litre respectively.

	Petrol price (in Rs. per litre)			Diesel price (in Rs. per litre)
	30-May	29-May	13-May	30-May	29-May	13-May
Delhi	78.42	78.43	74.63	69.3	69.31	65.93
Kolkata	81.05	81.06	77.32	71.85	71.86	68.63
Mumbai	86.23	86.24	82.48	73.78	73.79	70.2
Chennai	81.42	81.43	77.43	73.17	73.18	69.56
(Source: iocl.com)

2. The cut of 1 paisa per litre came after a total hike of Rs 3-4 per litre in the four metros in the past 16 days. Petrol prices were hiked by Rs 3.8 per litre in Delhi, Rs 3.74 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 3.76 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 4 per litre in Chennai from May 13 to May 29. Diesel prices, during this period, were increased by Rs 3.38 a litre, Rs 3.23 a litre, Rs 3.59 a litre and Rs 3.62 a litre respectively.

3. The continued increase in domestic petrol and diesel prices in the past 16 days was a result of higher global crude oil prices along with weakness in the rupee against the US dollar, among other factors. The government had said last week that it was looking at short-term as well as long-term solutions for rising domestic fuel prices. (Also read: Petrol, Diesel Should Be Brought Under GST: Nitin Gadkari)

4. Petrol and diesel prices in India are linked to Singapore gasoline prices and Arab Gulf diesel prices, which mostly track movements in crude oil prices. Crude oil prices fell to about $75 a barrel as Saudi Arabia and Russia said they were ready to ease supply curbs that have pushed crude prices to their highest since 2014, news agency Reuters reported.

5. Crude oil is the most expensive item on India's import bill as the country meets more than 80 per cent of its oil requirements through imports. Therefore, weakness in the rupee against the US dollar also puts pressure on domestic petrol and diesel prices. The rupee is down more than 6 per cent against the greenback so far this year.

(With agency inputs)

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