<div>Ahead of Delhi polls this Saturday (7 February), petrol price was cut on Tuesday (3 February) by Rs 2.42 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre in step with fall in international oil prices.<br /><br />Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 56.49 a litre from midnight tonight as compared to Rs 58.91 now. Similarly, diesel will cost Rs 46.01 per litre as against Rs 48.26 at present.<br /><br />This is the 10th straight reduction in petrol price since August and sixth in diesel since October.<br /><br />The latest cut in fuel prices, which are generally revised on 1st and 15th of the month, comes days ahead of February 7 polling for Delhi Assembly, for which BJP is locked in a fierce battle with AAP while Congress is also in the fray.<br /><br />Even after the price reduction, state fuel retailers are making a margin of Rs 4 a litre on petrol and about Rs 3.6 per litre on diesel which they want to use for recouping inventory losses.<br /><br />Oil firms buy crude oil at one price but by the time it is processed and turned into fuel - a process that may take up to six weeks, a fall in international rates results in inventory loss, sources said.<br /><br />Despite reductions, petrol will cost more than ATF, which is of superior quality and used in aircraft.<br /><br />A litre of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) costs Rs 46.51 per litre in Delhi.<br /><br />New rates of petrol and diesel will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest fuel retailer, announced here.<br /><br />After the price cuts, petrol price is the lowest since September 2010 while diesel is cheapest since March 2013.<br /><br />ATF has a higher octane than petrol and diesel is a heavier fraction in the distillation process. Traditionally, auto fuels being of lesser quality than ATF would cost less.<br /><br />Four consecutive excise duty hikes since November, totalling Rs 7.75 a litre on petrol and Rs 7.50 on diesel, have however, reversed this.<br /><br />But for these, the cumulative reduction of Rs 17.11 per litre in petrol price in ten cuts since August and Rs 12.96 a litre on diesel since its deregulation in October, would have been higher.<br /><br />Petrol and diesel prices were last cut on January 17 by Rs 2.42 and Rs 2.25 a litre respectively.<br /><br />"Since that price revision, international prices of both petrol and diesel have continued to be on a downtrend and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate has appreciated. The combined impact of both these factors warrant a decrease in retail selling prices of both petrol and diesel," IOC said.<br /><br />(PTI)<br /> </div>
