The country's state-run oil companies have decided to revise the petrol and diesel prices on daily basis from May 1. The process would start initially in five cities across the country ahead of a nationwide roll out of the scheme.

To begin with, daily revision of fuel prices will be implemented in Puducherry and Vizag, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh.

Currently, the three state-run refiners,Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp, revise fuel prices every fortnight to reflect volatility in the currency and global oil markets.

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Sources told that the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas will soon take a decision over the issue. As the executives from Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp had reportedly met the Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the ministry officials to discuss the idea od revising prices everyday.

The roll-out of "daily dynamic pricing" in five cities will help them identify the problems ahead of a nationwide roll out of the scheme later this year, the sources, who did not wish to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said.

State refiners - Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp - operate 90 percent of the retail outlets in the country.

The three have upto 200 fuel stations in the five cities, the sources said.

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The sources also added that private fuel retailers - Reliance Industries and Essar Oil - are expected to follow their state peers soon.

The implementation of revising prices on daily baisis would likely to push Indian fuel market to face global competition strongly. After its introduction, private retailers could also shift to the dynamic pricing mechanism.

The rise in crude oil prices was first recorded when the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last year in September reached an agreement to cut oil production for the first time since 2008 after an informal meeting in Algiers.

India, being the fourth largest importer of crude oil, imports 85 per cent of total oil and 95 per cent of gas from OPEC nations.



(with inputs from Reuters)





