Petrol slams century in Mumbai for first time ever, motorists unlikely to cheer

Mumbai on Saturday became the first metropolitan city in the country to witness petrol prices per litre touching triple digits. Each litre of the fuel in Mumbai now costs ₹100.19, the highest ever.

Petrol and diesel prices have been on record highs for most of this month and while these had remained unchanged for the past two days, a hike was always expected.

Petrol prices in some cities in states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had crossed into triple-digit territory earlier this month but Mumbaikars will now be the first among all metropolitan city residents to pay more than ₹100 for every litre of petrol. Diesel prices are also closing the gap and on Saturday, each litre was at ₹92.17 here.

Chennai motorists will have to now pay ₹95.51 and ₹89.65 for a litre of petrol and diesel respectively. Prices are, comparatively, more affordable in Delhi where a litre of petrol is now at ₹93.94, just three paise cheaper than rates in Kolkata. Diesel in Delhi is among the cheapest, again comparatively, and is currently at ₹84.89 while it is ₹89.65 in Kolkata.

The reason for varying fuel prices in the country are because of different rates of local taxes and levies on the two fuels. Central taxes on the two fuels also have a large role to play in the final price while international crude rates as well as currency exchange rates are the other factors.

Petrol and diesel prices had remained unchanged in the country for weeks leading up to May but have been on a rather constant upward surge since the first week of the month.

The spate of hikes is likely to further intensify political bickering. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), according to PTI, had put up celebratory hoardings in Thane slamming the central government for the price hikes. Petrol in Thane had already touched ₹100.