FUEL PRICES RISE FOR 10TH TIME IN MAY; PETROL COSTLIER BY ₹2.45

NEW DELHI: Rising streak of fuel rates continued unabated for the tenth time in 15 days, making petrol costlier by ₹2.45 a litre and diesel by ₹2.78 since May 4 as state-run retailers on Tuesday raised petrol rate by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise a litre.

While petrol price in Mumbai soared to ₹99.14 a litre on Tuesday, costliest among major metros, it has already crossed the ₹100 mark in several cities, particularly in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Some of the cities selling the fuel over ₹100 per litre are Ratnagiri, Parbhari, Aurangabad, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jaisalmer, Ganganagar and Banswara.

Among the major metros, Mumbai has the highest fuel rates. Diesel is priced at ₹90.71 per litre in the financial capital of India on Tuesday.

The latest pump price of petrol in Delhi is ₹92.85 per litre and diesel ₹83.51 a litre. While fuel rates in Delhi are the benchmark for the entire country, retail prices of the two fuels differ from place to place because of variations in state taxes and local levies.

There are two key reasons for higher petrol and diesel rates— taxes on auto fuels and a spike in international oil prices. To be sure, much of the retail price is taxes. For instance, in Delhi, on May 16, central taxes accounted for 35.5% of petrol’s price, and state taxes, 23%. On diesel, central levies are over 38.2% while state taxes are about 14.6%. Through 2020, as global crude prices fell, the central government raised excise duty on the fuel to shore up its finances. States too followed suit—with revenue hit on account of the pandemic.

International oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate impact domestic pump prices as India imports over 80% crude oil it processes and pays in dollar. Benchmark Brent crude on Tuesday rose 0.36% at $69.71 a barrel during the intraday trade.