Fuel prices hiked again on Monday; Delhi, Kolkata inches away from century mark

Petrol and diesel prices on Monday have been hiked again for the second consecutive day. Petrol and diesel prices across the country have been increased by 35 paise and 36 paise respectively. With the latest hike, the per litre petrol price in Delhi and Kolkata are inches away from breaching the century mark.

This was the 34th price hike for motor fuels since May 4 and the third in July 2021. Petrol price in Delhi now costs ₹99.86 per litre, while diesel is retailing at ₹89.36 per litre. The national capital has witnessed a price hike of ₹9.17 and ₹9.48 per litre for petrol and diesel respectively.

Petrol cost in Mumbai is the highest among metro cities, retailing at ₹105.92 per litre, while a litre of diesel costs ₹96.91. Kolkata is another metro city that is about to join the list of cities where petrol prices have breached the ₹100 mark. In Kolkata petrol is selling at ₹99.84 per litre and diesel is selling at ₹92.27 per litre.

Petrol price has crossed ₹100 for a litre milestone states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Ladakh, Bihar, Punjab and Sikkim. Some other states too are about to join the list if upward revision goes like this.

Incessant price hikes started impacting the motor fuel rates since it started in February this year. Apart from the 18-days hiatus during the state assembly elections, fuel prices have majorly revised upward. The pricing components for both the motor fuels include excise duty, freight charges, variable VAT amount across states, dealer commission etc.

Despite demand from various sectors to reduce excise duty, the central government remained adamant about continuing with the current rate of tax. This has impacted not only motorists, but non motorists as well.