Centre hikes petrol, diesel prices

New Delhi, Feb 14 : The Centre on Thursday announced a hike in petrol price by Rs 2 a litre and diesel by Re 1 a litre.

The hike would come into effect from midnight on Thursday.

The announcement was made after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) here.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said that the Left parties were not happy with the government's decision to hike fuel prices.

This is a part of government's efforts to mitigate the spurt in global oil prices.

The increase in fuel prices is likely to benefit oil companies by a whopping Rs 840 crore (Rs 8.40 billion).

Earlier, crude oil prices had touched an all-time high of 100 dollars a barrel thus triggering fears of more under-recoveries by oil Public Sector Undertakings (PSU).

ANI