Diesel prices raised by 45 paise from today

Oil marketing companies will hike the price of diesel by 45 paise per litre (excluding taxes), Indian Oil said on Friday. The new price will be effective from Saturday. The hike comes barely a week after the oil companies had reduced the price of petrol by Rs 2 per litre. While petrol is a deregulated commodity, the government still controls the price of diesel, and allows only marginal revisions. This is the third consecutive price hike for diesel in the last three months. In January this year, the government had allowed the oil firms to raise the price of diesel by 40-50 paisa every month until the companies have wiped out the losses they incur from having to sell diesel at subsidised rates to the public. The oil firms are currently losing around Rs 11 on the sale of every litre of diesel. Unlike petrol, prices of diesel, cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene are not decontrolled, and the government has the ultimate control on pricing. The government subsidises the three products and compensates the oil firms for selling the fuels at lower prices. For the current financial year ending March 31, 2013, the under-recovery (losses) on the three products is estimated at Rs 1,60,000 crore. Source: NDTV