The price of petrol was on Sunday reduced by 12 paise a litre and that of diesel by 14 paise as oil companies moderated rate reduction amid the fall in global prices to absorb the hike in excise duty on fuel by the government, reported PTI.

The price of petrol in Delhi is Rs 69.75 per litre on Sunday, while diesel has dropped to Rs 62.44, according to a notification of state-owned oil firms. The reduction in rates would have been higher had the Centre not hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre.

The government had on Saturday hiked the special excise duty on petrol from Rs 2 per litre to Rs 8 per litre, and on diesel from Rs 2 per litre to Rs 4 per litre.

The tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 per litre when the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014 and that on diesel was Rs 3.56 a litre. The taxes on petrol and diesel, which account for more than a third of retail fuel prices, are one of the biggest sources of income for the government.

Global oil prices posted their biggest week of losses since the 2008 global financial crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic and amid efforts by top exporter Saudi Arabia and its allies to flood the market with record levels of supply.