Petrol, diesel prices hit all-time time high; check out rates in your city

Petrol, diesel prices on Wednesday, May 12, were hiked for the third consecutive day (seventh time this month), continuing to remain above Rs 100-a-litre in several places across Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 25 paise in Delhi, according to a price notification by the oil marketing companies. A litre of petrol now costs Rs 92.05 in the national capital, while the diesel is priced at Rs 82.61, as per data from Indian Oil Corporation.

In Mumbai, the fuel prices remain the highest. Petrol is priced at Rs 98.36 per litre which diesel is retailing at Rs 89.75 a litre. This was the seventh hike in fuel prices since May 4, when the state-owned oil companies ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

Also Read: Elections over! Petrol, diesel prices shoot up again

Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) align domestic fuel rates with the global crude oil prices, revising them on a daily basis in line with foreign exchange rates and benchmark international price.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh.

Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan has the costliest petrol and diesel in the country at Rs 102.96 per litre and Rs 95.33 a litre respectively. Also in Rajasthan, petrol continues to retail over the Rs 100-mark in Jaisalmer (Rs 100.97) and Bikaner (Rs 100.97) while it hit the century in Barmer where a litre of the fuel now costs Rs 100.08.

Petrol in several districts of Madhya Pradesh, including Shahdol (Rs 102.31), Rewa (Rs 102.30), Chhindwara (Rs 101.93) and Balaghat (Rs 102.24) continues to hover above the physiological mark. Meanwhile, it has hit the Rs 100-mark in the capital city Bhopal where it costs Rs 100.08 per litre. Bhopal is now the first state capital to see petrol at Rs 100. The fuel is also retailing at Rs 100.16 in another major city Indore.

In the Nanded district of Maharashtra, petrol was being sold at Rs 100.56.

Also Read: Fuel rates hiked for 5th consecutive day; petrol crosses Rs 100-mark in these districts

After raising petrol price by a record Rs 21.58 per litre and diesel by Rs 19.18 since the government raised excise duty to an all-time high in March last year, state-owned fuel retailers, IOC, BPCL and HPCL had reduced petrol price by 67 paise a litre and diesel by 74 paise per litre effected between March 24 and April 15.

Oil companies, which have in recent months resorted to an unexplained freeze in rate revision, had hit a pause button after cutting prices marginally on April 15. This coincided with electioneering hitting a peak to elect new governments in five states including West Bengal.

No sooner had voting ended, oil companies indicated an impending increase in retail prices in view of firming trends in international oil markets.

They said prices have been on a continuous uptrend since April 27.

Central and state taxes make up for 60 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and over 54 per cent of diesel. The union government levies Rs 32.90 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 31.80 on diesel.

Below mentioned are the latest petrol and diesel prices across major cities:

City              Petrol       Diesel

Delhi            92.05      82.61

Mumbai        98.36      89.75

Chennai       93.84      87.49

Kolkata        92.16      85.45

Hyderabad    95.67     90.06

Pune            98.00     88.03

Bhopal         100.08    90.05

Bengaluru     95.11     87.57

Source: Indian Oil

Crude Oil price rise

Crude oil price was hiked on Wednesday morning. US WTI crude futures for June traded at $65.49 per barrel, while Brent crude futures were up at $68.70 per barrel, according to Reuters.