Fuel prices hiked for 5th straight day; petrol dearer by up to 40 paise

In Mumbai, petrol prices are inching closer to the Rs 95 per litre mark

Petrol and diesel prices soared to record highs on Saturday after rates were hiked for the fifth day in a row.

As the benchmark Brent crude price crossed $62 a barrel mark, oil marketing companies raised the price of diesel by up to 36 paise per litre and petrol by up to 40 paise per litre across the country.

As of now, petrol costs Rs 88.44 a litre and diesel Rs 78.74 a litre in the national capital.

In Mumbai, petrol prices are inching closer to the Rs 95 per litre mark. Currently, petrol costs Rs 94.93 a litre in the financial capital, while diesel is priced at Rs 85.70 a litre. 

In Bengaluru, petrol now costs Rs 91.40 per litre, and diesel Rs 83.47 per litre.

In five days this week, the price has gone up by Rs 1.51 per litre for petrol while the diesel rate has risen by Rs 1.56 a litre.

The relentless hike in prices has been criticised by the opposition parties, including Congress that has demanded an immediate cut in taxes to ease the burden on the common man.

However, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday had told Parliament that the government is not considering a reduction in excise duty to cool rates from their record highs.

Rates have risen as international oil prices touched USD 61 per barrel for the first time in more than a year on improving demand outlook amid the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, he had said.

Central and state taxes make up for over 61 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and about 56 per cent of diesel.

The Union government levies Rs 32.9 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs Rs 31.80 a litre on diesel.

Retail petrol rates have risen by Rs 18.87 per litre since mid-March 2020 after the government raised taxes by a record margin to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices. Diesel rates have gone up by Rs 16.45.

(With inputs from PTI)