No price hike in fuel price for second day in a row

There was no hike in petrol and diesel prices on Friday for the third time in 18 days and the second day in a row. The fuel prices were hiked by 80 paise per litre on Wednesday, taking the total increase to Rs 10 per litre in 16 days.

Petrol in Delhi costs Rs 105.41 per litre and diesel rates have gone up to Rs 96.67 a litre, according to price notification by state-run fuel retailers.

Rates are increased across the country and vary from state to state depending upon local taxation.
Fuel prices have been hiked by 80 paise a litre each for five straight days, totalling Rs 4 per litre - a record increase for any five days since the start of daily price revision in June 2017.

The Rs 10 a litre increase is the highest ever rise by any equivalent period in two decades. Petrol prices have surged past Rs 100 a litre mark in all major cities across the country while diesel is above that level in several places in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The increase in retail price warranted by crude oil prices rising during the four ninth hiatus is huge, but state-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are passing on the required increase in stages.

International oil prices, which neared $140 a barrel following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, have fallen to around $107 per barrel, but fuel prices continue to be on the rise in India as state-owned fuel retailers compensate for the holding rates.

India is 85 per cent dependent on imports for meeting its oil needs and so retail rates adjust accordingly to the global movement.