From today, diesel will be costlier for Railways, State Transport Corporations and other bulk consumers by about one rupee a litre (excluding taxes). With taxes, the overall impact would be around Rs 1.25 a litre.
The price remains unchanged for the retail consumer, who however gets a reprieve on cooking gas. The price of non-subsidised domestic LPG has been reduced by almost Rs 38 a cylinder effective March 1.
According to LPG distributors, the majority of the domestic LPG consumers have exhausted their quota. In Delhi, diesel for bulk consumers will cost about Rs 59-60 a litre. With this hike, the Railways annual fuel bill will be go up by around Rs 290 crore.
But an oil company official pointed out that it is difficult to give the exact end price because bulk consumers are often offered discounts.
On January 16, the Government had introduced dual pricing for diesel. The public sector oil marketing companies were allowed to align these prices with market rates.