From May 1, the petrol and diesel prices are expected to change every day and will be maintained proportional to the international rates. The top oil companies like Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd., Indian Oil Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd., are all set to launch a pilot project.
The project includes companies selecting five cities like Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh for the implementation of the plan. This is a drive to link market rates on daily basis across all the pumps in the city.
IOC Chairman B. Ashok said, “It is technically possible to change rates daily but we have to first do a pilot. Once the pilot is done and its implications studied, we will extend it to other parts of the country.” He said that petrol prices should be the same in all places across the country. Ashok said, “By and large, in a particular market it should be (the) same. Though, there might be the marginal difference from the pump to pump.”
Amidst this, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted, “We have adhered to the policy of non-interference in the market and let a pricing mechanism based on various market dynamics evolve.” In a statement to news agencies, he said, “Oil companies have implemented it on the pilot project in 5 cities. After this, they’ll decide what to do with rest of the country.”
According to reports, the prices of petrol will go down by Rs. 3.77 per liter and diesel is expected to go down by Rs. 2.91 per liter for April.
