Fuel prices continued to haunt public as it touched new highs on Saturday. Petrol rates have been increased by 18 paise per litre, taking its price to Rs 82.66 per litre in Delhi while a litre of diesel is retailing at Rs 75.19 with a hike of 29 paise on Saturday.

Skyrocketing prices of fuel are also continuing to burn holes in the pockets of common man in Mumbai, where petrol is retailing at Rs 88.12 per litre (increased by Rs 0.18) and diesel at Rs 78.82 per litre (increased by Rs 0.31).

Fuel prices have been witnessing a steep rise since the past few months. While the Opposition has repeatedly blamed the union government for not doing enough to keep a check on prices, the latter has maintained that global crude oil prices and other international factors are causing a hike in prices of petroleum products.

On October 4, the union government had announced a cut of Rs 2.50 per litre on both petrol and diesel prices after curbing excise duty on the commodity by Rs 1.50 per litre. While making the announcement, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also recommended all state governments to slash rates by a further Rs 2.5 to make fuel cheaper by Rs 5. 

Meanwhile, with no significant let-up in retail fuel prices despite the Centre's intervention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for alternative measures to curb rates in future, sources told DNA. Soaring oil prices have become a huge challenge for the Centre as oil marketing companies can't afford to repeatedly subsidise petrol and diesel.

A week after slashing excise duty on fuel, PM Modi on Friday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and discussed ways to shift the country's energy dependence towards biofuels.

The PM reviewed the status of production of oil and gas in the country. The government wants domestic production of oil and gas to be increased as it feels curtailing oil consumption is not a resolution.

A litre of petrol cost Rs 82.48 in Delhi, while the rate for the same quantity was Rs 87.94 in Mumbai.

The high-level meeting also talked about cutting oil import by 10 per cent by 2022, said sources, requesting anonymity. "India's vulnerability is in oil imports as it meets over 82 per cent of its crude oil requirement through imports.

The high international prices are inflating the import bill. Oil imports have a negative impact on the rupee and the current account deficit (the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange). The country needs a stable regime for oil," government sources said.

During the current financial year, the country has so far imported 220 mt of crude oil. It is believed that rising oil prices also influence Rupee's movement.