The prices of petrol and diesel touched a new high on Tuesday with Mumbai paying the maximum among the four metros. While petrol costs ₹86.72 a litre, diesel is priced at ₹75.74 a litre.
In Delhi, the petrol price has been risen to a record ₹79. 31 a litre, while diesel price has been increased to ₹71.34 a litre, which is also at a record high, according to the daily price notification issued by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
The price build-up of petrol in Delhi includes excise duty of ₹19.48, dealer commission of ₹3.63, and VAT of ₹16.83 (including VAT on dealer commission).
Similarly, the price build-up of diesel in Delhi at ₹71.15 a litre includes excise duty of ₹15.33, dealer commission of ₹2.51, and VAT of ₹10.46 (including VAT on dealer commission).
In Kolkata, the price of petrol has been increased to ₹82.22 per litre while the diesel price has gone up to ₹74.19 per litre. Similarly, petrol is being sold for ₹82.41 per litre in Chennai and the diesel retail price is ₹75.39 per litre.
The fuel prices are likely to go up further as the rupee hit yet another all-time low of ₹71.18 against the U.S. dollar on Monday, compared to the previous close of ₹70. The price of Brent oil increased to $78 a barrel on Monday.
India imports about 80% of its crude oil, and the falling Indian rupee will make the imports costlier and lead to a rise in fuel prices.
State-owned oil firms had in mid-June last year dumped the 15-year practice of revising rates on the first and 16th of every month.
India imported crude oil worth ₹2,640,30 crore (over $39 billion) between April and July 2018, according to the data by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.