Giving some respite to the government and the oil companies, the effective price of crude oil for India fell by about 1.9% in the second half of April, according to numbers released by the Government of India.
Effective price paid by Indian companies for crude oil fell to Rs 6174.90 per barrel in the second half of April, compared to 6063.32 in the first half.
In dollar terms, the fall was even higher, at about 3.6%. However, as the value of the Indian Rupee also fell during the period, the effective fall in price was only about 1.9%.
The rupee fell by about 50 paise to the dollar, or about 1%, to 53.72 in the two weeks.
As the value of the rupee falls, the price of imported commodities, such as oil, increases.
In dollar terms, crude oil price, effective for India, fell from $120.58 in the first half of April to $116.20 in the second.
Rising crude oil prices have led to a near doubling of petrol (gasoline) prices in the last two years in India.
