Petrol, diesel prices hiked for the second time in a week, up about 90 paise a litre

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked again across India, marking the second increase in less than a week. On May 15, the state-run oil companies ended a nearly four-year freeze on price revisions and hiked the price of petrol and diesel by ₹3 per litre. Now, on Tuesday, the oil companies have increased the price of petrol and diesel further by about 90 paise per litre. With this move, the total price hike in less than a week's time for both petrol and diesel was about ₹4 per litre.

The latest price hike has pushed petrol prices in New Delhi to ₹98.64 per litre from ₹97.77 per litre, while diesel rose to ₹91.58 per litre from ₹90.67 per litre. Petrol in Mumbai now costs ₹107.59 a litre, and diesel costs ₹94.08 per litre. In Kolkata, petrol now costs ₹109.70 per litre and diesel ₹96.07, while in Chennai, prices increased to ₹104.49 per litre for petrol and ₹96.11 per litre for diesel.

Petrol and diesel prices in major cities
	Petrol price (Per litre)	Diesel price (Per litre)
Delhi	₹98.64	₹91.58
Mumbai	₹107.59	₹94.08
Kolkata	₹109.70	₹96.07
Chennai	₹104.49	₹96.11

The latest hike for petrol and diesel comes following the second price hike for CNG on Sunday. On May 15, CNG prices were raised by ₹2 per kg in cities, including Delhi and Mumbai. On Sunday, CNG prices were again hiked by ₹1 a kg.

These back-to-back price hikes were announced as surging global crude oil prices, following the US-Iran war, forced state-run fuel retailers to pass on part of their mounting losses after months of holding the prices steady through key state elections. The global crude oil prices have surged more than 50% since the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East on February 28, disrupting flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil shipments.

After the latest price hike, petrol and diesel have become the most expensive since May 2022. The prices have remained on freeze since April 2022, but for a one-off reduction by ₹2 a litre each on petrol and diesel in March 2024, just before the Lok Sabha elections. Rates of petrol and diesel were last hiked in April 2022.

Private fuel retailers had already increased pump prices well before the state-run oil companies announced price hikes last week. Nayara Energy, the country's largest private fuel retailer, in March 2026, raised petrol prices by ₹5 per litre and diesel by ₹3, while Shell increased petrol prices by ₹7.41 and diesel by ₹25 per litre from April 1.

Petrol and diesel likely to become even pricier

Despite about ₹4 per litre price hikes for petrol and diesel, these motor fuels are likely to become even costlier in the coming weeks, as Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had stated that the May 15 hike had cut losses of the oil companies by a fourth. He also stated that oil companies were still incurring about ₹750 crore a day loss.

According to Crisil, losses on petrol were about ₹10 per litre and ₹13 on diesel after the May 15 price hike. This leaves the oil companies enough room to increase the price of petrol and diesel further in the coming days.

Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape.