Petrol Price at All-Time High in India; Hiked 16th Time This Month

There seems to be no respite for the common man as fuel prices continue to surge. The state-run oil marketing companies have hiked the petrol and diesel prices again on Monday. While petrol has become costlier by 29 paise, diesel has been increased by 26 paise on May 31.

After the recent hike, petrol and diesel have become most expensive in India in the recent years. In Mumbai, petrol price crossed Rs 100-per-litre mark. A litre of petrol will cost you Rs 100.47 in Mumbai. In Delhi, a litre of petrol is being sold at Rs 94.23 on May 29. In Chennai, petrol is climbed to Rs 95.76. You have to shell Rs 94.25 for a litre of petrol in Kolkata.

Diesel price has also witnessed a sharp hike in May. In Mumbai, a litre of diesel is priced at Rs 92.45 per litre. In Delhi, diesel will be available at Rs 85.15. A litre of diesel will be priced at Rs 89.90 in Chennai and Rs 88 in Kolkata. Petrol rates had already crossed the Rs 100-mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Fuel prices have been soaring since the beginning of this month. State-run companies resumed daily revisions on May 4 after an over 18-day halt. Since then, petrol price has risen by Rs 3.83 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.42.

The price of auto fuel in India depends on international crude oil prices, rupee-dollar exchange rate. The central government and states levy various taxes — excise duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. Oil marketing companies like the Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited revise the rates daily.

Oil prices ended the week more than 5% higher, with global benchmark Brent edging up on Friday to settle at a two-year high. Brent settled 17 cents or 0.2%, higher at $69.63 a barrel, its highest close since May 2019. US West Texas Intermediate crude settled down 53 cents a barrel, or 0.79% at $66.32, according to Reuters. Rising coronavirus infections in Asia put pressure on prices.

The Centre raised excise duty by Rs 13 on petrol and Rs 16 on diesel between March 2020 and May 2020. The duty now stands at ₹31.8 on diesel and ₹32.9 on petrol. VAT varies from state to state.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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