The revised rates are applicable in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal and Chandigarh. Earlier, these states were supplied petrol and petroleum products from Mathura Oil Refinery.

The new prices for petrol are Rs 25.08 a litre in Punjab, Rs 23.82 per litre in Haryana and Rs 22.63 in Chandigarh while that of diesel are Rs 10.04 a litre in Punjab, Rs 10.30 a litre in Haryana and Rs 9.80 per litre in Chandigarh. The officials attributed the rate variation to the varied tax structure in states. According to sources, the Panipat Oil Refinery, with a 6 million ton capacity, which started commissioning a few months back, completed trial run last week. The refinery was scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on June 24, but the programme was cancelled yesterday owing to official reasons.

Deputy General Manager of Indian Oil Corporation, A. M. Nagar, who is the state-level coordinator for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, told Newsline that with Panipat refinery starting functioning rail freight and transportation charges by roads and pipes have gone down, leading to the reduction of petrol and diesel prices in the northern regions. Earlier, the pricing of pertol and its product was done from Mathura Oil Refinery.

With the opening of the refinery, the supply of the petrol and its production in the northern region will be streamlined, the oil company officials added.

The officials added that the northern regions will now get uninterrupted supply of petrol and petroleum product.