ATF price up 3.7%, LPG unchanged

New Delhi: Jet fuel or ATF price on Friday was hiked by 3.7 per cent, the third increase in rates in one month on firming international oil prices.

Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price was raised by Rs 1,817.62 per kilolitre, or 3.69 per cent, to Rs 50,978.78 per kl in the national capital, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

This is the third increase in price since December 1, 2020. Rates had gone up by 7.6 per cent (Rs 3,288.38 per kl) on December 1 and by 6.3 per cent (Rs 2,941.5 per kl) on December 16.

ATF prices are revised on 1st and 16th of every month based on the average price of benchmark international rate and foreign exchange rate in the preceding fortnight.

In Mumbai, ATF price on Friday went up to Rs 49,083.65 from Rs 47,266.02 per kl.

Prices vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.

Increase in price of ATF, which makes for close to 40 per cent of the running cost of an airline, will put additional burden on airlines that have been struggling to return to normal business after Covid-19 lockdown had halted their operations.

After rising by Rs 100 per cylinder last month, cooking gas LPG rates were unchanged on Friday.

Non-subsidised LPG will continue to be priced at Rs 694 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Prior to the price increase in December, rates had remained unchanged at Rs 594 a cylinder since July. This was the same rate at which subsidised LPG refills are also sold.

Since May, most cooking gas customers have not received subsidies as the combination of international oil price collapse and domestic refill rate increases brought parity between subsidised and market rates.

A subsidised cooking gas cylinder was priced at Rs 497 in Delhi in June 2019. Since then, prices have cumulatively gone up by Rs 147.

However, the increase in rates in December meant that the government had to resume paying subsidies to consumers.

Petrol and diesel prices, which are supposed to be revised daily, remained unchanged for the 25th straight day.

A litre of petrol costs Rs 83.71 in Delhi and diesel is priced at Rs 73.87.

Moreover, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said on Friday that, despite disruptions in commercial activities due to the COVID-19 crisis, sales of motor spirit and diesel have increased during 2020, which indicates a revival of the economy, an official of.

During 2020, sales of motor spirit have increased by 108 per cent and diesel by 96 per cent over the previous year, IOC director (marketing) Gurmeet Singh said.

"This shows the healthy signs of an economic revival," he said at an event in Bhubaneswar in the presence of petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

IOC chairman S M Vaidya said domestic LPG demand increased by 10 per cent during the lockdown months in the country.

He said 2020 was a year of digitalisation at the state-run oil marketing company, which had helped it achieve seamless business continuity.

Petroleum and natural gas minister flagged off the despatch of high-octane premium petrol from the country's oldest refinery at Digboi in Assam to seven cities, including Kolkata.

He also introduced a missed call facility for LPG refill bookings and registering new connections for households.

Currently, the option of registering new connections through the missed call facility is available only in Bhubaneshwar and will soon be rolled out in other parts of the country, IOC official said.

Prasad said the number of LPG connections in the country has reached 30 crore, out of which, 17 crore had been achieved in the last

six years.