41st Hike in 75 days that made the Transport Fuel Costlier by ₹11.44 a litre since May 4

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• Jul 17, 2021 | moderator

Petrol prices rose by 30 paise per litre on Saturday, the 41st hike in 75 days that made the transport fuel costlier by ₹11.44 a litre since May 4, a day after results of five assembly polls were declared. However, several hikes in about two-and-a-half months have made Diesel costlier by ₹9.14 per litre since May. Petrol prices have already crossed ₹100 per litre in five metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore.

After the latest hike, petrol in Delhi is priced at ₹101.84 per litre, and diesel at ₹89.87. While fuel rates of state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 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. The cost of one-litre petrol in Mumbai is now ₹107.83 and diesel, ₹97.45. The highest fuel rates have been recorded in Rajasthan’s Ganganagar where pumps are selling petrol at ₹113.21 per litre and diesel at ₹103.15 a litre.

Surging international oil rates and the high domestic tax structure are two key reasons for steep rates of petrol and diesel in Indian cities. International oil prices showed extreme volatility since Monday last week when Brent crude jumped to $77.16 a barrel, its highest since October 2018 due to supply concerns. While international oil prices impact pump rates of auto fuels because India imports more than 80% of crude it processes, steep taxes are the other reason for high rates of petrol and diesel.

Some of the cities selling petrol for over ₹100 per litre are Delhi, Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Parbhani, Aurangabad, Jaisalmer, Ganganagar, Banswara, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Bengaluru, Guntur, Kakinada, Chikmagalur, Shivamogga, Hyderabad, Leh, Imphal, Kalahandi, Sopore, Baramulla, Patna, Kolkata, Salem, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Mohali, Darjeeling, Dantewada and Kohima.