New Delhi: After a three-day hiatus, petrol and diesel prices in the country again scaled unprecedented heights on Saturday as retail prices rose by 24 paise for petrol and 15 paise for diesel. Factoring in the latest increase, petrol is now priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in Delhi. Prices in the rest of the country have also increased between 20-30 paise per litre, based on the level of local duty levied at the state level.
Saturday's increase follows a movement in global crude oil price. The Brent crude has continued its upward trajectory with prices still above $66 a barrel.
Prices of petrol and diesel have been rising continuously since February 9. Between February 9 and Saturday, the price of petrol has gone up by Rs 4.22 per litre, and that of diesel has gone up by Rs 4.34 a litre in Delhi. The increase has caused petrol to cost a historic high of Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country.
Across metro cities, petrol is over Rs 90-a-litre mark, while diesel is well over Rs 80 a litre. In Mumbai, petrol is at Rs 97.57 a litre and diesel is at Rs 88.60 a litre. Premium petrol has crossed the Rs 100-per-litre mark in several cities of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra a few days back. Even if global crude prices stabilise, retail fuel costs in India will continue to be on the upward trajectory as fuel prices are benchmarked to a 15-day rolling average of global refined products' prices and dollar exchange rate.
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