Petrol, diesel prices raised by around 80 paise in third hike this week: Sources

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Petrol and diesel retail prices have been raised by around 80 paise a litre with effect from March 25, for a third time this week, sources told Moneycontrol.

This week, the price of retail diesel and petrol has gone up by close to Rs 2.40 a litre.

State run OMCs- Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd(HPCL)- can revise retail petrol and diesel prices daily, based on the rolling average of international benchmark prices over the past 15 days.

While prices of fuel sold to bulk consumers and aviation turbine fuel were raised, retail prices of petrol and diesel were left unchanged for almost 137 days even though crude oil prices had increased close to 45% in the same period.

In Mumbai, retail petrol will cost Rs 112.51, while diesel will cost Rs 96.70 per litre from March 25.

The increase announced on March 22 was the first since November 2, 2021. On November 4, the government announced a Rs 5 per litre cut in excise duty on petrol and a Rs 10 per litre cut in excise duty on diesel to provide relief to customers and cushion them against the soaring international crude oil prices. Subsequently, many states followed suit and cut taxes. Since then, crude oil prices have soared but OMCs left the retail prices unchanged.

In a report dated March 24, Moody’s Investors Service said that fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL have together lost around $2.25 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) in revenue in March by keeping petrol and diesel prices unchanged despite a sharp rise in crude oil prices.

An increase of $1 in crude prices can result in retail fuel prices rising by 50 to 60 paise per litre, according to industry experts. Crude oil prices have increased by about $38 a barrel since November; this could translate into an increase of Rs 19-24 a litre. Experts pointed out that the entire increase may not be passed on to consumers and the price rise would be gradual.

The government may step in with a tax cut like they did in November. The duty and taxes account for 40-50% of the price and are a major source of revenue for the Centre and state governments. But a cut in taxes would mean a significant loss in revenue to the Centre and the states.