The diesel price increased in Kolkata too, where a litre of the fuel retailed at Rs 92.17, with an increase of 25 paise. (Representative image)
Diesel price was hiked on September 26 by 23 to 27 paise per litre across the country – the second increase in rates in over two months – as international oil prices neared their highest since 2018, according to a price notification by state-run oil companies. Petrol price, however, remained unchanged for 21 days in a row.
Diesel price increased by 27 paise in Mumbai, which revised the retail price of the fuel to Rs 96.68 on the day. Petrol price remained the same and sold at Rs 107.26 per litre in Maharashtra’s capital.
In Delhi, fuel prices witnessed a similar trend as the diesel price increased by 25 paise while the rate of petrol kept unchanged. With this revision, a litre of diesel sold at Rs 89.07 and petrol at Rs 101.19 in the national capital.
The diesel price increased in Kolkata too, where a litre of the fuel retailed at Rs 92.17, with an increase of 25 paise. Petrol price did not change in West Bengal’s capital and retailed at Rs 101.62 per litre.
Chennai also witnessed an increase of 23 paise in diesel prices, which took its rate to Rs 93.69 per litre. Petrol price remained at the previous price of Rs 98.96 per litre in Tamil Nadu’s capital.
Since the last price revision in petrol on September 5, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around $6-7 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.
But oil companies, which are supposed to revise prices daily in line with the cost, did not change rates for almost three weeks. They have now started to pass on the increase to customers. Average international crude oil prices had fallen by more than $3 per barrel in August as compared to the previous month. This came against the backdrop of mixed economic data from the United States and China and mobility restrictions in Asia fuelled by the fast-spreading Delta variant.
Accordingly, retail prices of petrol and diesel in the Delhi market were reduced by Rs 0.65 a litre and Rs 1.25 per litre by oil marketing companies from July 18 onwards.
The last downward revision was on September 5. Prior to that, the petrol price was increased by Rs 11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17. Diesel rate had gone up by Rs 9.14 during this period.
The price hike during this period pushed petrol prices above the Rs 100-a-litre mark in more than half of the country, while diesel crossed that level in at least three states. India is dependent on imports to meet nearly 85 per cent of its oil needs and so benchmarks local fuel rates to international oil prices.
(With inputs from PTI)
