No respite! Petrol crosses Rs 100 per litre in more cities, diesel prices rise too

Fuel prices continue to shred the common man's budget as petrol and diesel rates were hiked for the 28th time since May 4. State-backed oil marketing companies (OMCs) have jacked up the petrol rates by 28 paise and diesel rates have gone up by 26 paise.

After the recent hike, petrol costs Rs 97.50 per litre in Delhi and one needs to pay Rs 88.23 for a litre of diesel in the national capital. Petrol has reached Rs 103.63 per litre while diesel sells for Rs 95.72 per litre in India's financial capital-Mumbai.

Citizens in Kolkata have to pay Rs 97.38 for a litre of petrol whereas diesel costs Rs 91.08 per litre in the city. Petrol costs Rs 98.65 per litre in Chennai while diesel sells for Rs 92.83 per litre after the recent hike.

Since May 4, petrol rates have crossed the Rs 100-mark in states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

In Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district, located near the India-Pakistan border, petrol tocuhed Rs 108.67 per litre - the highest in the country while diesel comes for Rs 101.40 per litre.

Srinagar (Rs 100.53 per litre) and Imphal (Rs 101.60 per litre) became the latest capital cities where petrol prices crossed the psychological Rs 100 per litre-mark after Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Bhopal, as per IOC data.

Oil marketing companies (OMCs) decide the petrol and diesel rates on the basis of local taxes like VAT and freight charges, the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days and foreign exchange rates.

Global oil prices dropped on Tuesday since investors cashed in on a recent rally but market sentiment was positive on hopes of a quick recovery in oil demand. Brent crude futures went down by 10 cents or 01 per cent to $74.80 per barrel whereas US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down by 22 cents or 0.3 per cent to $73.44 per barrel, Reuters reported.  

Edited by Mehak Agarwal

Also read: Fuel prices hiked again, petrol nears Rs 100 in Patna after Bengaluru, Mumbai