Petrol, diesel prices continue to surge on 12th consecutive day

Petrol and diesel prices maintained their upward trajectory on Thursday with rates in Delhi being hiked by 53 paise and 64 paise, respectively. This is the 12th such price hike in as many days since oil companies ended the 83-day hiatus in daily rate revisions.

Petrol prices have now been hiked by around ₹6.55 per litre since the daily rate revisions were resumed from June 7. In the same time period, diesel prices have gone up by ₹7.13 per litre.

With the latest hike, petrol in Delhi now retails at ₹77.81 per litre while diesel rate stands at ₹76.43. The figures stand at ₹84.15 and ₹74.32 in Mumbai, ₹79.08 and ₹71.38 in Kolkata and ₹80.86 and ₹73.69 in Chennai for petrol and diesel, respectively.

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The price per litre of the two fuels vary from state to state because of different rates of local taxes and VAT imposed.

Quite ironically, global oil prices fell by 2% on Thursday with spike in Covid-19 cases triggering fears in China and the US. Brent crude futures fell 1.5%, or 61 cents, to $40.10 a barrel, reported Bloomberg.

Fuel prices in India, a major importer of crude oil, are also dependent on international rates - among several other factors like exchange rate, taxes and excise. In fact, the government had first hiked excise duty on the two automotive fuel by ₹3 per litre on March 14 and then by ₹10 per litre on May 5 in order to generate additional revenue. Oil marketing companies, however, had stopped daily revisions from March 16 and may have benefited from crashing international rates in the subsequent weeks.

Demand for the two fuels were significantly low through the course of the lockdown in India but has now reportedly recovered to around 85% of pre-Covid-19 levels. The rates are expected to continue their upward trajectory till at least end of June, according to sources.

(With agency inputs)