New Delhi, Feb. 26: Petrol will cost Rs 2.83 more and diesel Rs 2.66 more a litre in Calcutta after Pranab Mukherjee raised customs duty but signalled a temporary burial for a panel’s suggestions for steeper hikes.

In Calcutta, petrol will sell at Rs 51.15 a litre. Diesel will be retailed at pumps at Rs 37.73 a litre. Although the budget proposals have not been passed, the new prices were brought into force from Friday night itself to prevent hoarding.

The hikes stem from a three-fold increase in customs duty on petrol and diesel to 7.5 per cent. Excise duty on non-branded petrol and diesel has also been raised by Re 1 a litre.

“The customs duty was withdrawn when the prices of petroleum reached as high as $122 per barrel. Now it is much softer and there is no reason to continue the same concession. I have not imposed any duty which was not imposed earlier,” Mukherjee said later.

Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser, said the fuel price increase would not have much of an impact on inflation. “In the long term, the hike would have a minuscule impact on inflation. We had to reduce the fiscal deficit, which would have a ramification in the long term,” Basu said.

Mukherjee also imposed 5 per cent import duty on crude oil, a move that will impact private refiners like Reliance Industries and Essar Oil.

Today’s hike virtually puts the Kirit Parikh recommendations, which called for higher price increases of Rs 4.94 per litre for petrol and Rs 3.20 a litre for diesel, in the freezer for the time being.

But government sources have suggested that the issue can be revisited when inflation subsides.