Oil retailers hike jet fuel prices by over 4 pc

New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) State-run oil firms on Tuesday
raised jet fuel price by a massive 4 per cent, the ninth
straight increase in rates since October.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) rates in Delhi have been
hiked by Rs 2,104 per kilolitre, or 4.12 per cent, to Rs
53,538 per kl with effect from Tuesday midnight, an official
of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The hike, the second biggest increase in a year, comes on
the back of another 4.5 per cent jump in rates effected from
February 1.
"The hike has been necessitated because of spurt in
international oil rates," the official said.
This is the ninth straight increase in jet fuel prices
since October 2010, when international crude oil prices
started soaring.
The ATF price in Delhi in October 1 was Rs 40,728.52 per
kl. The rates were increased by Rs 12,334.48 per kl or 30.28
per cent in nine tranches since then, in tandem with surge in
global oil prices.
Jet fuel will cost Rs 53,538 per kl in Mumbai, home to
the nation's busiest airport, from tomorrow, as against Rs
51,332.82 per kl currently.
No comment could be immediately obtained from airline
companies on the impact of the latest price hike on passenger
fares.
Fuel cost accounts for 40 per cent of the airlines'
operating cost.
Indian Oil Corp and sister public sector retailers Bharat
Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum revise jet fuel prices on
the 1st and 16th of every month, based on the average
international price in the preceding fortnight.