Petrol got ₹4.87/litre dearer in one month, diesel ₹4.99

NEW DELHI: Oil companies on Saturday raised petrol prices by 24 paise per litre and diesel by 15 paise a litre, making the two fuels costlier by Rs 4.87 per litre and Rs 4.99 in just one month. With the 16th price hike in the current month, petrol was sold at record Rs 91.17 per litre in Delhi on Saturday and diesel at Rs 81.47 a litre, just 50 paise short of touching an all-time high level. Diesel was sold at record Rs 81.94 per litre on July 30, 2020 in Delhi.

Domestic fuel retailers raised petrol and diesel rates on Saturday, even as international crude oil prices fell on Friday because of the firming dollar. Benchmark Brent crude on Friday closed at $66.13 per barrel, down by 1.12%. However, Brent crude surged by over 18% in February on supply disruptions in the US and a rapid demand recovery with the launch of Covid-19 vaccination programmes.

According to the latest data released on Friday, the Indian economy has come out of contraction zone after the ease of lockdown restrictions and resumption of economic activities. India’s GDP grew at 0.4% on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter ending December 2020, after the economy suffered an annual contraction of 24.4% and 7.3% successively in the two preceding quarters because of a 68-day hard lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19

“Petrol and diesel are deregulated fuels. Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCS) take appropriate decision on pricing of petrol and diesel in line with international prices of petrol and diesel, and not with international crude price,” an oil ministry official said on condition of anonymity.