Petrol, diesel prices at record high levels as rates hiked again
NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel prices across the country soared to all-time high levels on Thursday as rates were hiked again in line with the spurt in international oil prices.
Petrol price was increased by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of ₹103.24 a litre and to ₹109.25 per litre in Mumbai, the notification showed.
Diesel rates too touched a record high of ₹91.42 in Delhi and inched closer to the ₹100-alitre mark in Mumbai. It currently costs ₹99.55 a litre in Mumbai.
Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.
The increase on Thursday pushed rates to a new record high. Petrol crossed the ₹100-alitre mark in Lucknow and Gandhinagar—the last of the handful of state capitals that had rates less than that.
Petrol prices, which is dictated by the incidence of local taxes and freight, had already crossed the ₹100 mark in several places in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The only state capitals where petrol now is less than Rs 100 are Dehradun, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Ranchi.
Diesel is already above the ₹100 mark in several cities in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Sri Ganganagar, the border town in Rajasthan, had the costliest fuel in the country with petrol costing ₹115.14 a litre and diesel coming for ₹105.64. UT of Daman had the cheapest petrol at ₹98.26 per litre.
State-owned fuel retailers have in the past few days resorted to modest increases to align domestic rates with cost. But with international benchmark Brent crude soaring to $81 per barrel after the decision by Opec+ not to increase output more than 0.4 million barrels per day, fuel rates are being increased by a larger proportion.