Petrol and diesel prices were on Sunday hiked by 60 paise per litre, with the state-owned oil firms resuming daily price revisions after an 82-day hiatus.
The price of a litre of petrol in Delhi was hiked to Rs 71.86 from Rs 71.26 till Saturday, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 69.99 from Rs 69.39, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.
Petrol price in Mumbai and Calcutta was hiked by 59 paise each to Rs 78.91 and Rs 73.89 per litre. In Chennai, the hike was 53 paise to Rs 76.07, according to the price notification. For diesel, the price was hiked by 58 paise in Mumbai to Rs 68.79 and in Calcutta by 55 paise to Rs 66.17. In Chennai, the price was hiked from Rs 68.22 to Rs 68.74.
Daily price revision has resumed, an oil company official said.
While oil PSUs have regularly revised ATF and LPG prices, they had since March 16 kept petrol and diesel prices on hold, ostensibly on account of extreme volatility in the international oil markets.
Auto fuel prices were frozen soon after the government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre each to mop up gains arising from falling international rates.
The government on May 6 again raised excise duties by Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel.
Oil companies, instead of passing on the excise hike to consumers, decided to adjust them against the reduction required because of the drop in international oil prices. They used the same tool and did not pass on the Re 1 per litre hike required for switching over to ultra-clean BS-VI grade fuel from April 1.