Petrol and diesel prices reached their respective all-time highs after state-owned oil companies passed on the four weeks of non-stop increase in international oil prices to consumers. Petrol prices in Delhi raced to a record high of Rs 76.24 per litre whereas diesel prices jumped to their higher ever level of Rs 67.57 per litre on Sunday.
In Delhi, petrol prices were increased by 33 paise per litre - which is the highest since daily price revision came into play last year in June - and diesel prices were pushed up by 26 paise per litre, as per price notification issued by oil PSUs. Prices in the national capital also happen to be the cheapest among all metro cities and most state capitals.
As of now, Mumbai is the worst hit in terms of petrol prices where high local taxes have taken them to Rs 84.07 per litre. Petrol rates in Kolkata and Chennai have not breached the Rs 80-mark yet and stand at Rs 78.91 per litre and 79.13 per litre respectively. Prices have gone beyond Rs 80 in Bhopal (Rs 81.83 a litre), Patna (Rs 81.73), Hyderabad (Rs 80.76) and Srinagar (Rs 80.35), according to the price notification. Presently, petrol is cheapest in Goa's capital Panjim at Rs 70.26 per litre.
Diesel prices are the highest in Hyderabad where a litre is priced at Rs 73.45 on account of high local taxes. A litre of diesel costs Rs 71.94 in Mumbai, Rs 70.12 in Kolkata and Rs 71.32 in Chennai, the notification said.
Diesel is the cheapest in Port Blair where it is priced at Rs 63.35. It is priced at Rs 73.34 in Trivandrum. Other cities where diesel rates have crossed Rs 70 mark are Raipur (Rs 72.96 a litre), Gandhinagar (Rs 72.63), Bhubaneswar (Rs 72.43), Patna (Rs 72.24), Jaipur (Rs 71.97), Ranchi (Rs 71.35), Bhopal (Rs 71.12) and Srinagar (Rs 70.96)
This is the seventh day that fuel prices have been increased since oil companies resumed daily price revision after a 19-day long pause on account of Karnataka polls. In the past week, petrol prices have seen an increase of Rs 1.61 per litre, whereas diesel went up by Rs 1.64 per litre during this time.
Oil PSUs are estimated to have lost about Rs 500 crore on absorbing higher cost resulting from the spike in international oil rates and fall in rupee against the US dollar during the nearly three-week hiatus.
The benchmark international rate for petrol, used for revising rate on April 24, had gone up from USD 78.84 per barrel to USD 84.97 on May 14. It has further risen to USD 84.97, indicating more daily hikes would be needed to level retail price with cost.
Similarly, benchmark international diesel rates during this period have climbed from USD 84.68 per barrel to USD 90.28 per barrel. Also, the rupee has weakened to Rs 67.27 per US dollar from Rs 66.62, making imports costlier.
(With PTI inputs)