Petrol price to go up by Rs 5 per litre from midnight

In the steepest hike ever, state-owned oil companies on Saturday increased petrol price by about Rs 5 per litre with effect from midnight tonight.

Yesterday the central government agreed to provide 20,000 crore as compensation for the revenue losses suffered by the state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) - Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC) - in selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below market rates.