Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has hiked diesel price by ₹0.45 per litre (exclusive VAT) and petrol price by ₹1.50 (excluding VAT) with effect from Saturday citing constant increase in international oil prices.

The state oil firms had last revised the prices of oil on Jan 18, 2013, hiking diesel price by ₹0.45 (excluding VAT) and reducing petrol price by ₹0.25 (excluding VAT).

"Crude oil price has increased from $109.08/bbl to $ 113.24/bbl, while International MS (petrol) prices have increased from $119.59/bbl to $128.57/bbl. The INR-USD exchange rate has however improved from Rs.54.78 to Rs.53.43 per USD during the period," said IOC in a statement, citing the reason for the oil price hike.

"The Corporation has been compelled to pass on the increase in MS (petrol) prices to consumers as the Corporation has already suffered losses on sale of MS so far and trends in international oil market as well as INR-USD exchange rate indicate continued strength," it added.

IOC said in a statement that under-recovery on diesel had reduced to ₹9.15/litre after hiking oil price by ₹0.45 (excluding VAT) in January this year but constant increase in international diesel price has pushed under-recovery to ₹10.72/litre. It added that the under-recovery on diesel will only be reduced to ₹10.27/litre in spite of the latest price hike.

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