Public sector oil marketing companies cut the base price of petrol and diesel by ₹ 2 a litre each, excluding state levies. The quantum of drop in prices after state levies will vary from state to state.
The drop in prices is effective from midnight of July 15/July 16.
"Prices of Petrol and Diesel were last revised July 1. Since last price change, there has been a decrease in international prices of both petrol and diesel. The rupee-US dollar exchange rate has also appreciated during this period. Combined impacts of both these factors warrant the said downward revisions," IndianOil said in a statement.
"The movement of prices in international oil market and exchange rate shall continue to be monitored closely and developing trends of the market will be reflected in future price changes," the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government has hiked VAT (value added tax) on petrol and diesel. The VAT on petrol was increased to 25 per cent from 20 per cent and on diesel it was hiked to 16.6 per cent from 12.5 per cent.
As per the price on July 14, this would have resulted in an increase in petrol price of ₹ 2.78 a litre and ₹ 1.83 a litre increase for diesel. However, due to the price cut announced by IndianOil, the impact will lessened.