The common man continues to face the heat from rising fuel prices as oil marketing companies once again decided to pass on the rise in global oil rates to consumers on Friday.
Accordingly, retail price of petrol and diesel got dearer by 29 paise per litre and 28 paisa per litre to touch a new high of Rs 95.85 and Rs 86.75 per litre respectively in Delhi.
In the city of Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed the Rs 100 mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price reached a new high of Rs 102.04 per litre on Friday.
Diesel prices also increased in the city to reach Rs 94.15 a litre, the highest among metros.
Across the country as well petrol and diesel prices increased between 26-32 paisa per litre on Friday but its retail prices varied depending on the level of local taxes in different states.
Sri Ganganagar, a small city in the northernmost part of Rajasthan near the India-Pakistan border is all set to get the dubious distinction of becoming the first city in the country where retail prices of both auto fuels – petrol and diesel – will be hitting the century mark.
The city already has the distinction of having the highest pump price of petrol across the country at Rs 106.95 a litre. With diesel prices now increasing there by another 30 paise per litre on Friday to reach Rs 99.81 a litre, the city is just a day away to hit a century mark for this fuel class as well.
Elsewhere in Rajasthan, especially towns near the border areas, diesel is expected to touch the Rs 100 mark in a day. So, this will be the case in a few places in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar, where by virtue of higher VAT rates, fuel prices are always much higher than rest of the country. Premium fuels are already above Rs 100 mark in several cities for the past few months.
With Friday’s price hike, fuel prices have now increased on 22 days and remained unchanged on 20 days since May 1. The 22 increases have taken up petrol prices by Rs 5.45 per litre in Delhi. Similarly, diesel has increased by Rs 6.03 per litre in the national capital.
With global crude prices also rising on a pick-up demand and depleting inventories of the worlds largest fuel guzzler – the US, retail prices of fuel in India is expected to firm up further in the coming days.
The benchmark Brent crude is currently at $ 72.23 on ICE or Intercontinental Exchange.
