And it's a century! Petrol now costs Rs 100 per litre in Delhi, Kolkata

Petrol price crossed Rs 100 per litre in New Delhi on Wednesday, with fuel prices touching new highs across the country. With the latest revisions in petrol and diesel rates, the petrol is now retailing at Rs 100.21 per litre in the national capital up 35 paise as against the previous closing price of Rs 99.86 a litre, while diesel rate has been hiked by 17 paise from Rs 89.36 per litre to Rs 89.53 a litre, according to data released by the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL).

Besides Delhi, petrol has also surpassed the Rs 100 per litre mark in Kolkata and costs Rs 100.23 a litre in the capital state of West Bengal, whereas diesel is priced at Rs 92.50 per litre.

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In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices stand at Rs 106.25 a litre and Rs 97.09 a litre following Wednesday's revision. Petrol costs the highest in the country's financial capital.

In Bengaluru, a litre of petrol and diesel now costs Rs 103.56, and Rs 94.89. In Chennai, petrol and diesel are retailing at Rs 101.06 per litre, Rs 94.06 a litre.

Fuel prices have been increased four times in July and 16 times in the previous month of June. With Wednesday's price hike, petrol is past the Rs 100-a-litre mark in 16 states and UTs, these include - Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Sikkim.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and freight charges.

Fuel prices have been on the rise since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revisions they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

Also Read: 'I accept current fuel prices are problematic,' Dharmendra Pradhan

Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days, and foreign exchange rates.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said last week that he was in talks with oil-producing countries. "I am persuading my producer states, and I have had very good discussions with OPEC. An OPEC meeting is supposed to be there in the next few days, and I hope the price will be a little bit sober," the minister said while addressing a virtual event.

Crude oil price

Oil prices plunged on Tuesday in a volatile session after OPEC producers cancelled a meeting when four key players were unable to come to an agreement to increase supply. Brent crude traded at $74.56 per barrel. Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate futures were at $73.44 a barrel, according to Reuters.