The prices of the petrol and diesel, will change on daily basis, with international rates, effective from May 1.

This initiative implies that, a customer has to pay a different price for petrol or diesel everyday, at the petrol pumps in the Country.

The State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), will launch the daily revision of fuel prices in five select cities, i.e, Puducherry and Vizag in southern Indian, Udaipur in the West, Jamshedpur in the East and Chandigarh in the North.

These three PSUs operate 90% of the retail outlets in the country and have up to 200 fuel stations in the five cities.

And the project will be implemented nationwide, later this year, following these cities, says reports.

IOC Chairman B Ashok, said, “Ultimately, we will be driving towards market linked rates, on a daily basis at all pumps across the country.”

“It is technically possible to change rates daily but we have to first do a pilot. Once pilot is done and its implications studied, we will extend it to other parts of the country,” said the IOC Chairman.

The officials believe that the roll out of the daily fuel revisions on the five cities, will help them identify the problems, ahead of a nation-wide roll out of the scheme.

Oil price hike has always been a contentious issue often resulting in political backlash. As of now state-owned oil companies revise fuel prices every fortnight. The price revision is to demonstrate volatility in the currency and global oil markets. The daily changes does not mean the prices would rise or drop sharply, but it would change just by a few paise every day.

The Unbranded petrol costs Rs 66.29 per litre, at IOC pumps in Delhi, while the same in the city of the BPCL pumps, is priced at Rs 66.37 per litre, and the HPCL pumps sell for Rs 66.48 per litre.

The Unbranded diesel costs Rs 55.61, at IOC pumps in Delhi, Rs 55.66 at BPCL outlets and Rs 55.69 a litre at HPCL pumps.

The petrol price was last revised downward by Rs 3.77 per litre and diesel rates by Rs 2.91 per litre, after two-and-half-months, as the oil firms did not change prices during assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

The petrol and diesel prices will be the same in city or town. “By and large, in a particular market it should be same. Though, there might be marginal difference from pump to pump,” said Ashok.

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