Week before Ganeshotsav, petrol flares up to Rs 88.77 in Maharashtra

Barely a week before the state's biggest public festival Ganeshotsav, petrol-diesel prices in Maharashtra's Parbhani shot up to Rs 88.77, perhaps the highest in the country, an official said.

Parbhani District Petroleum Dealers Association President Sanjay Deshmukh said that even diesel prices are on a sharp upswing and stood at Rs 76.59 on Thursday, hitting the commoners hard.

Federation of All Maharashtra Petroleum Dealers Association (FAMPEDA) President Uday Lodh said that Amravati follows at Rs 88.25 and Aurangabad at Rs 87.96 per litre.

Next is Nagpur at Rs 87.39, Mumbai at Rs 86.91 and Pune at Rs 86.71 per litre for petrol, he said.

All India Petrol Dealers Association spokesperson Ali Daruwala said the average rates of petrol in Maharashtra was at Rs 86.80, diesel Rs 74.69, with plus/minus Rs 0.25, depending on local variations.

He attributed the current upswing to crude oil prices touching $77 per barrel and INR depreciating to almost Rs 72 per dollar.

Besides other international politico-economic factors like Iran and OPEC not increasing its output, Daruwala said that every single dollar hike in global crude prices can lead to increase of Rs 1.50 per litre petrol in India.

The officials pointed out that the masses have stoically borne the burden of the spiraling rates of petrol and diesel without complaining, but it has had a cascading effect on other sectors of the economy.

For instance, the prices of essentials, vegetables and other commodities have shot up by 20-25 per cent in major cities.

This is directly attributed to increased transportation costs on account of the fuel price hikes, dealing a blow to the upcoming 10-day Ganeshotsav festivities, and the price rise trends expected to continue.