Petrol price in Delhi touches ₹74.08/litre, highest since Sept ’13

NEW DELHI: ON FRIDAY, BRENT CRUDE OIL WAS PRICED AROUND $73.56 PER BARREL, WHEREAS IN 2013 IT WAS PRICED AT OVER $100 A BARREL

Petrol prices in Delhi touched a fresh high of ₹74.08 per litre on Friday, the highest in nearly five years. In September 2013, the price had touched ₹74.10 a litre. In Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai too, prices climbed to new multi-year highs at ₹76.78, ₹81.93 and ₹76.85 per litre respectively, the Indian Oil website said.

The previous highs in these cities were ₹78.03 (Kolkata, August 2014), ₹82.07 (Mumbai, March 2014) and ₹76.93 (Chennai, July 2014).

Diesel prices also touched new record levels. Prices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai were ₹65.31, ₹68.01, ₹69.54 and ₹68.90 per litre respectively.

Petrol prices firmed up on Friday along with surge in crude oil prices due to the ongoing supply cut by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries coupled with strong demand for crude oil.

CHIDAMBARAM SLAMS MODI GOVT

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram slammed the Modi government over the high petrol prices, saying it has become clueless and floundering. In a series of tweets, the former finance minister said the BJP boasts that it is ruling 22 states but why does the NDA government refuse to bring petroleum and petroleum products under GST.

WASEEM ANDRABI /HT A man walks on a wooden footbridge as it rains in Srinagar on Friday. Snowfall, rain and heavy wind lashed different parts of north India on Friday, resulting in a drop in temperatures and an avalanche warning being sounded. >>P9