Congress and other opposition parties have criticized the government for the rise in petrol & diesel price, claiming that it has added to the burden on the common man who is already struggling with rising commodity prices.
Digital Desk: On Sunday, petrol prices were raised by 50 paise per litre and diesel prices by 55 paise, bringing the total increase in rates since the resumption of daily price revisions less than a week ago to 3.70-3.75 per litre.
As per the price notification issued by state fuel retailers, petrol in Delhi will now cost 99.11 per litre, up from 98.61 previously, and diesel rates have increased from 89.87 per litre to 90.42.
Rates have been raised across the country and vary from state to state, depending on the extent of local taxation.
Notably, this is the fifth rise in prices since the end of a four-and-a-half-month rate revision pause on March 22. Prices had been raised by 80 paise a litre on each of the previous four occasions, the largest single-day increase since the daily price revision was implemented in June 2017.
In total, petrol prices have risen by 3.70 per litre in six days, while diesel prices have risen by 3.75.
Prices had been locked since November 4 in advance of assembly elections in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, during which time the cost of raw material (crude oil) had risen by about USD 30 per barrel.
Congress and other opposition parties have criticized the government for the rise in prices, claiming that it has added to the burden on the common man who is already struggling with rising commodity prices.
The increase in retail prices warranted by crude oil prices rising during the 137-day pause from around USD 82 per barrel to USD 120 is significant, but state-owned retail businesses Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are passing on the necessary increase in stages.
According to Moody's Investors Services, state retailers collectively lost around USD 2.25 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) in revenue for holding petrol and diesel prices during the election period.
As per Kotak Institutional Equities, oil companies will need to increase diesel prices by 13.1-24.9 per litre and petrol rates by 10.6-22.3 per litre at an underlying crude price of USD 100-120 per barrel.
CRISIL Research stated that a 9-12 per litre rise in retail price would be necessary for a total move of an average crude oil price of USD 100 per barrel and a 15-20 per litre increase if the average crude oil price rises to USD 110-120.
Since India is 85 percent reliant on imports to meet its oil needs, retail prices adjust in accordance with global movements.
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