Fuel price today: Petrol, Diesel prices remain stable for 2nd day

After a hike in fuel prices on Tuesday, the prices remained stable for the second consecutive day on February 25.

The prices of petrol and diesel in New Delhi stood at Rs 90.93 per litre and Rs 81.32 per litre, respectively, according to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Both these prices had been hiked by 35 paise each on February 23.

In Mumbai, the price of petrol remained unchanged at Rs 97.34 per litre. The price of diesel stood at Rs 88.44 per litre.

Meanwhile, the prices of petrol and diesel in Chennai stood at Rs 92.90 and Rs 86.31 per litre, respectively. While the three metropolitan cities continue to bear the brunt of rising global crude oil prices, Kolkata saw a decline in fuel prices as the poll-bound state of West Bengal cut the state value-added tax (VAT) by Re 1 on February 20. The price of petrol in Kolkata was stable at Rs 91.12 per litre on February 23 and 24.

After concerns raised by the opposition about the hike in fuel prices, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das also urged the government to slash indirect taxes on petrol and diesel.

"Pump prices of petrol and diesel have reached historical highs," Das noted in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) minutes released on Monday.

"An unwinding of taxes on petroleum products by both the centre and the states could ease the cost-push pressures. What is needed at this point is to create conditions that result in a durable disinflation. This is contingent also on proactive supply-side measures," it said.

The minutes further noted that the CPI inflation excluding food and fuel remained elevated at 5.5 percent in December, due to the inflationary impact of rising crude oil prices and high indirect tax rates on petrol and diesel, and pick-up in inflation of key goods and services, particularly in transport and health categories.