State- run oil companies, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), yesterday cut jet fuel or Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by four per cent, the first reduction in jet fuel rates since July this year, on softening of international oil prices.

The ATF rates in Delhi have been reduced by Rs 1,715 per kilolitre, or 4.09 per cent, to Rs 40,138 per kilolitre. In Mumbai, the price of ATF was reduced by Rs 1,800, or 4.16 per cent, to Rs 41,388 per kilolitre. The ATF price in Kolkata was reduced by Rs 1,799 to Rs 48,462 per kilolitre, while in Chennai it came down from Rs 46,255 to Rs 44,397 per kilolitre. The reduction follows two successive rise in prices on August 1 and 16.

The three state-run oil firms revise jet fuel prices on the first and the 16th of every month, based on the average global oil price in the previous fortnight. This recent price cut is the third this fiscal, the previous reductions being on June 1 and July 16.

ATF rates have gone up on ten occasions since March this year. Jet fuel in Delhi was priced at Rs 37,982.22 per kilolitre in the second half of February this year before international oil rates started firming up, resulting in an increase in domestic rates.