Petrol price falls below Rs 71

New Delhi: Petrol prices slipped below Rs 71-mark for the first time in eight months Monday as India looks set to reap windfall from a price war among oil producers leading to international crude prices crashing by their biggest margin since the 1991 Gulf war.

International oil prices crashed by close to 31 per cent, the second-largest margin on record, after the disintegration of the OPEC+ alliance triggered an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

In Delhi, petrol prices dropped to Rs 70.59 a litre, the lowest since early July 2019, and diesel rate were cut to Rs 63.26, according to a price notification of state-owned firms.

Fuel prices have been on the decline since February 27 on international trends. Petrol prices have in all fallen by Rs 1.42 a litre since then and diesel rates have dropped by Rs 1.44 per litre.

But the only dampener in the entire scheme of things is rupee which settled 23 paise down at 74.10 against the US dollar. A weaker rupee means India pays more for buying the same amount of commodity from overseas. It will also help lower inflation rate.