Diesel prices have been hiked by 50 paise a litre, excluding state levies. The hikes came into effect midnight last night. The monthly hike in price came after several rounds of discussions that the new Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held with state-owned oil firms on continuing with the reform initiated by the previous UPA government. The UPA had, in January last year, decided to raise diesel prices in small doses of upto 50 paise every month till such time that the subsidy on nation's most consumed fuel is eliminated. The hike, announced by oil companies, vary from city to city due to state sales tax or VAT.The price of diesel in Delhi will now be 57 rupees 28 paise a litre, while it will cost 65 rupees 84 paise a litre in Mumbai. In Kolkata, the new rate will be 61 rupees 97 paise a litre and in Chennai, it will be 61 rupees 21 paise a litre.