Petrol turns dearer by Rs 3.07 a litre, diesel up `1.90

Petrol price was last cut by Rs 3.02 from March 1 and Wednesday’s hike has wiped off all of that. Diesel price on that day was hiked by Rs 1.47. The three hikes in diesel rates since February 16 total Rs 3.65 per litre. In fact, consumers are still to get all the benefits from the sharp drop in international oil prices to a decade low as the government on five occasions since November has raised excise duty on the two auto fuels. The five levy hikes add up to Rs 4.02 per litre on petrol and Rs 6.97 on diesel, handing the government a neat Rs 17,000 crore as additional revenue. “The current level of international product prices of petrol and diesel and rupee-US dollar exchange rate warrant increase in price of petrol and diesel,” IOC said in a statement.