Just two days after increasing the price of petrol by Rs 1.82 per litre, government-run fuel retailers on Monday hiked diesel price by 50 paise a litre (excluding state levies).

Following the hike, which took effect from Monday midnight, diesel costs Rs 50.84 a litre in Delhi, up more than 50 paise from previous price of Rs 50.26 a litre as it includes state levy. The most recent hike is the sixth upward revision so far this year.

In Chennai, diesel now costs 61 paisa more than the previous price; while in Mumbai and Kolkata, it increased by 62 paise and 59 paise, respectively.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest refiner-marketer, said that the combination of depreciation in rupee and higher international prices forced them to hike price of the fuel.

The state-run refiner-marketer said in a statement, "Under-recovery on sale of retail diesel has been steadily increasing mainly due to depreciation in rupee coupled with increasing international prices."

The last upward revision was made in June. Despite making sixth hikes in the price of the diesel, there is still a gap of Rs 8.10 per litre between diesel's pump price and market rate.

State-run fuel retailers had in January been permitted to revise diesel prices by 40-50 paise every month till the gap between the fuel's pump prices and market rates wipes out.