Petrol, diesel prices increase by Rs 6.40 in 10 days 

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked on Thursday yet again by at least 80 paise a litre, with the former crossing Rs 100 mark. This is the ninth time since last week that petrol and diesel prices have gone up -- witnessing an overall increase of up to Rs 6.40 per litre, after a four-month hiatus.

After today's hike, petrol in Delhi will now cost Rs 101.81, witnessing an 80 paisa hike while diesel rates have gone up to Rs 93.07, according to a price notification of Rajdhani service station, state-owned fuel retailers.

In the first four occasions, prices were increased by 80 paise a litre -- the steepest single-day rise since the daily price revision was introduced in June 2017. 

In Mumbai, petrol price has reached Rs 116.72 per litre, while the diesel price has surged to Rs 100.94 per litre, witnessing an 84 paisa hike within five days, according to a notification by state-owned fuel retailer.

In Chennai the cost of petrol and diesel increased to Rs 107.45 and Rs 97.52 respectively. In Kolkata, the price of petrol is at Rs 111.35 and diesel is Rs 96.22.

Petrol and diesel prices vary from state-to-state based on factors like international crude oil prices, value-added tax (VAT) levied on fuel across different states, freight charges and international exchange rate. State-backed oil marketing companies (OMCs) revise petrol and diesel prices on a daily basis at 6 am.

Experts say that the third day of fuel price hike in the same week raises alarming concerns of stoking inflation, which is already above the targeted 6 per cent.

This revision is based on the average of international benchmark prices over the past 15 days, enabling state-run OMCs - Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd(HPCL) – to revise retail petrol and diesel prices daily.