31 Oct , 2021 By : Kanchan Joshi
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fifth consecutive day today after a two-day pause across the country Sunday. The latest increase that follows the unrelenting hike in international oil prices has pushed pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels.
Petrol and diesel prices were again hiked by 35 paise per litre each, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
Petrol now costs Rs109.34 a litre in Delhi and Rs115.15 in Mumbai. Diesel is now priced at Rs98.07 a litre in Delhi and Rs106.23 in Mumbai.
As for Kolkata and Chennai, petrol and diesel cost Rs109.79 and Rs101.19 and Rs106.04 and Rs102.25 respectively in Chennai.
In Bengaluru, petrol is available at Rs113.15 per litre and diesel at Rs104.09 and in Hyderabad, one litre of petrol is now available at Rs113.72 and diesel cost Rs106.98 for one litre of diesel.
The costliest fuel was in the border town of Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where petrol comes for Rs121.62 a litre and diesel for Rs112.52 per litre.
Petrol and diesel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax. Meanwhile, the Central government is in talks with several oil-exporting countries on the issue of supply and demand of oils but there is no possibility of immediate relief in prices.
The government had raised excise duty on petrol and diesel to mop up gains that would have otherwise accrued to consumers from international oil prices crashing to as low as USD 19 per barrel. While international prices have since recovered to USD 85, excise duty has remained at Rs32.9 per litre on petrol and Rs31.8 on diesel.
Earlier, a source told ANI that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas recently raised concerns about the matter of pricing, supply and demand of oils to the major oil-producing countries.
"As crude oil prices rise internationally, the petroleum ministry has called on the energy ministries of many countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Russia and others," said the source.
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