The United Progressive Alliance government has raised the prices of petrol and diesel for the sixth time since it came to power in May 2004. Prices have also been reduced once when there was a reduction in global prices.
According to data posted on the IndianOil website, petrol prices in Delhi have increased 29 per cent to Rs 43.49 a litre from midnight, compared with Rs 33.70 a litre when the UPA came to power.
Similarly, diesel prices have increased over 40 per cent from 21.73 a litre in May 2004 to Rs 30.45 from midnight.
During the period, cooking gas prices were raised thrice from 261.60 a cylinder in April 2004 to Rs 294.75 at present.
Kerosene prices have, however, been left untouched, leaving oil marketing companies with under-recoveries of Rs 12 a litre.
On the other hand, the import price for petrol, diesel and kerosene more than doubled since the UPA came to power. The import price for cooking gas went up 36 per cent.
The cost of crude for Indian refiners has increased 93 per cent from $32.37 a barrel to $62.77 a barrel at present.
On June 15, within a month of coming to power, the UPA government effected the first price hike and then followed it up with another increase in July. On both occasions, the government also decided to reduce duties.
While international crude prices began spiralling before the UPA assumed office, its predecessor the National Democratic Alliance did not raise prices after 31 December 2003 once it decided to go for early polls.
Prior to that, along with the dismantling of the administered price mechanism from April 2002, the government had decided on a fortnightly price adjustments to keep the retail prices in line with the international movements.
The Indian basket price for crude averaged $26.67 a barrel in 2002-03 and rose marginally to $27.96 a barrel in 2003-04. The average cost of crude for Indian refiners, however, shot up 40 per cent to $39.22 a barrel in 2004-05.