In a welcome news to the the whole nation the petrol prices were adjusted for the beginning of the month as planned which resulted in a Rs 3 reduction. This is the steepest fall in over 5 years. Earlier there was a Rs 5 reduction in the prices in December 2008 and all subsequent cuts were only lower than this.

Interestingly, this also makes it the fourth time the price has been reduced since March. However, the regional rates will be affected differently in different states due to the additional taxes.

The state owned oil companies have reduced the rates after a fall in the international prices of crude oil per barrel from $116 to $107. Further fuelling the rate cut was the appreciation of the dollar rate to Rs 54.26.

With this the prices of petrol in various cites are as follows

Hyderabad: 68.21 from 72.14
Delhi: 63.09 from 66.09
Mumbai: 69.73 from 72.88
Bangalore: 69.63 from 72.63

(AW- Anil)