Petrol, diesel rates in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata- 8 March
Premium- Petrol and diesel prices need to be increased by ₹15 a litre for fuel retailers to break even, industry sources said.
Petrol and diesel prices are likely to be hiked this week as oil companies prepare to pare losses accumulated from keeping rates steady for over four months in the run-up to assembly elections in five states, including UP, despite international oil prices jumping to a 13-year high of $140 per barrel.
Meanwhile in India, the rate of petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged in India on Monday. There has been no change in the prices of petrol and diesel in India for nearly four months. The rate of petrol in the country's capital Delhi is ₹95.41 per litre today while that of diesel is ₹86.67 per litre. In the country's financial capital Mumbai, the petrol and diesel prices have remained static to ₹109.98/litre and ₹94.14 per litre, respectively. As for Kolkata and Chennai, petrol and diesel cost ₹104.67 and ₹89.79 and ₹101.40 and ₹91.43 respectively in Chennai.
| Cities | Petrol | Diesel |
| Delhi | ₹95.41 | ₹86.67 |
| Mumbai | ₹109.98 | ₹94.14 |
| Kolkata | ₹104.67 | ₹89.79 |
| Chennai | ₹101.4 | ₹91.43 |
India relies on overseas purchases to meet about 85 per cent of its oil requirement, making it one of the most vulnerable in Asia to higher oil prices.
The twin blows of oil prices, already up more than 60 per cent this year, and a weakening rupee may hurt the nation's finances, upend a nascent economic recovery and fire up inflation.
Petrol and diesel prices need to be increased by ₹15 a litre for fuel retailers to break even, industry sources said.
The basket of crude oil that India buys rose above USD 111 per barrel on March 1, according to information from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.
This compares to an average of USD 81.5 per barrel price of the Indian basket of crude oil at the time of freezing of petrol and diesel prices four months back.
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