New Delhi, Jul 25 (IANS): Oil marketing companies on Saturday raised diesel prices by 15 paisa/litre as OMCs revised pump prices. This rise in price came after the prices were held steady for sometime.

While the price of diesel was at Rs 81.79 per litre in the capital, petrol was steady at Rs 80.43 a litre. Petrol prices have remain unchanged since June 29.

Oil companies had raised diesel prices marginally by 12 paise on Monday but thereafter the prices of the two petroleum products remained unchanged for next four days till Friday.

Unexpected rise in diesel prices despite slower demand has put the transport sector at a big disadvantage as rising fuel cost has further shrunk its margins. The price of diesel in capital has also put automobile companies concerned about the prospect of the sale of diesel-run cars in the country's largest car market.

With the hike in diesel prices, the gap between the two auto fuels has further widened in the national capital. Last month, diesel prices overtook that of petrol in Delhi in an unprecedented development.

In Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, petrol was sold at an unchanged price of Rs 87.19, Rs 83.63, Rs 82.10 per litre, respectively, while diesel prices increased marginally.

Oil companies began daily revision of the two auto fuels from June 7 after keeping the price unchanged for around 82 days during the lockdown. Since then petrol and diesel prices have increased by Rs 9.5 and Rs 12 per litre, respectively.