Daily Times

The caretaker government on Tuesday maintained the current prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) for the next fortnight.

According to a notification from the Ministry of Finance, the prices of petrol and HSD will remain Rs283.38 and Rs303.18 per litre, respectively.

Meanwhile, the prices of kerosene oil and light-diesel oil were reduced by Rs3.82 and Rs3.4 per litre, respectively, to Rs211.03 and Rs189.46 per litre.

The move comes contrary to expectations of a reduction of Rs5-18 per litre for diesel and petrol. The price of HSD was likely to decrease by about Rs5-6 per litre, falling to less than Rs300 per litre, unless the caretaker government further increased the petroleum levy. On the other hand, petrol was expected to be cheaper by about Rs18 per litre.

This was mainly due to the rupee’s gain of about Rs3 against the dollar over the last fortnight, while the average price of diesel has dropped by about $1.3 per barrel and that of petrol has increased by about $3.5 per barrel.

On October 16, the caretaker government had slashed the price of petrol by Rs40 per litre and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs15 per litre. This had marked the third price cut in a row.

The increasing stability of the rupee against the greenback was cited as the main reason behind this cut. Most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered highly inflationary, as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines like trucks, buses, tractors, tube wells and threshers. It particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables.