Seldom has a meteoric rise such as of fuel prices currently been witnessed in the country. For the fifth day straight, petrol and diesel prices have been increased. From yesterday, the prices were increased by 28-31 paise in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. In these five days, petrol prices have been raised across these cities by Rs 0.97-1.03, while diesel prices have been raised by Rs 1-1.24 per litre. The oil prices are currently revised everyday at 6 am, after state-owned oil companies decided to do away with the 15-year-old practice of revising fuel prices on the 1st and 16th of every month.
After today’s revision, petrol price in Delhi is Rs 75.61, while it has touched Rs 83.45 in Mumbai, Rs 78.29 in Kolkata and Rs 78.46 in Chennai. In Bengaluru price of a litre of petrol is Rs 76.83 and Rs 80.09 in Hyderabad. Apart from Mumbai and Hyderabad, petrol prices have touched the Rs 80 mark in Bhopal with Rs 81.19, Jalandhar with Rs 80.84, Patna with Rs 81.10 and Srinagar with Rs 80.05.
Diesel price in Delhi has jumped to Rs 67.08 per litre, while it is Rs 69.63 in Kolkata, Rs 71.42 in Mumbai and Rs 70.80 in Chennai. In Bengaluru, a litre of diesel will cost buyers Rs 68.23 and Rs 72.91 in Hyderabad.
The fuel price hike is being influenced by the dipping rupee-dollar forex rate and the increasing global crude oil rate. The rupee has been down by 6% against the US dollar so far this year. However, the rupee has recovered for two days straight against the US dollar and closed at 67.70 on Thursday.
Crude prices, on the other hand touched more than $80 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014.
Before the Karnataka polls, fuel prices were not hiked for 19 days during which the government lost about Rs 500 crore. Oil PSUs that had kept rates unchanged for nearly three weeks before Karnataka polls despite a spike in input cost, reverted to daily revision in prices as soon as the state voted.
Source: BusinessToday
