Petrol, diesel prices hiked again; diesel above ₹99/litre from Srinagar to Chennai

Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday were hiked by 35 paise per litre each, the second consecutive day of increase that took pump rates across the country to record high levels.

The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of ₹106.54 a litre and ₹112.44 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

In Mumbai, diesel now comes for ₹103.26 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs ₹95.27 per litre.

This is the second consecutive day of price hike. There was no change in rates on October 18 and 19, prior to which prices were hiked by 35 paise per litre each on four straight days.

While petrol has already hit the ₹100-a-litre mark or more in all major cities of the country, diesel has touched that level in over a dozen States and is treading towards that mark in places from Srinagar to Chennai.

Diesel costs ₹ 99.14 a litre in Srinagar while it is priced at ₹ 99.59 in Chennai.

The costliest fuel was in the border town of Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where petrol comes for ₹118.59 a litre and diesel for ₹109.41 per litre.

Since the ending of a three-week-long hiatus in rate revision in the last week of September, this is the 18th increase in petrol price and the 21st time that diesel rates have gone up.

Prices differ from State to State depending on the incidence of local taxes.

International benchmark Brent crude on Thursday was trading above $85 per barrel, $11 more than last month.

Being a net importer of oil, India prices petrol and diesel at rates equivalent to international prices.

The surge in international oil prices ended a three-week hiatus in rate revision on September 28 for petrol and September 24 for diesel.

Since then, the diesel rate has gone up by ₹6.85 per litre and the petrol price has increased by ₹5.35 a litre.

Prior to that, the petrol price was increased by ₹11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17. Diesel rate had gone up by ₹9.14 per litre during this period.