Fuel prices raised again, petrol nears ₹101 in Mumbai

Petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday scaled new highs across the country after they were hiked for the 17th time in a month.

Petrol price was increased by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 23 paise a litre, according to a price notification of stateowned fuel retailers.

In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of ₹94.49 a litre, while diesel is priced at ₹85.38 per litre.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The price of petrol, which had already crossed the ₹100mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, breached the psychological barrier in Mumbai on Saturday. Tuesday’s price increase was the second since then.

Petrol now costs ₹100.72 a litre in Mumbai and diesel comes for ₹92.69 per litre.

The increase on Tuesday is the 17th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in

India’s petrol and diesel sales fell by about 17% in May from a month ago as restrictions clamped to curb the world’s worst outbreak of coronavirus infections stifled demand.

Sales of petrol—used in cars and motorcycles—fell to 1.79 million tonne in May, the lowest in a year, according to the data of state-owned fuel retailers.

While the consumption was almost 13% higher than demand in May 2020, it was 28% lower than pre-covid levels of 2.49 million tonne.

rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

In 17 increases, petrol price has risen by ₹4.09 per litre and diesel by ₹4.65 a litre. Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days.