Fuel Prices on March 16: Petrol, diesel prices today in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and other cities

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Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on March 16 in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, a notification issued by state-run fuel retailers showed.

In Delhi, after the reduction on Value Added Tax (VAT), fuel prices have been cheaper in comparison with other cities in the country. On March 16, petrol in Delhi costs Rs 95.41, while diesel costs Rs 86.67 per litre.

In Mumbai, a cut on November 4 reduced the price of petrol to Rs 109.98 a litre, which remains unchanged. Diesel is at Rs 94.14 a litre.

In Kolkata, petrol and diesel prices remained at Rs 104.67 and Rs 89.79. In Chennai, petrol now costs Rs 101.40 and diesel is sold at Rs 91.43.

In the non-metro cities, however, there is a marginal shift in fuel prices. In Gurugram, Haryana petrol is priced at Rs 95.90 per litre and diesel at Rs 87.11 per litre. In Noida, petrol is Rs 95.51 per litre and diesel is Rs 87.01 per litre. In Lucknow, petrol has become Rs 95.28 and diesel Rs 86.60 per litre. In Jaipur, petrol has become Rs 107.60 and diesel Rs 90.70 per litre. And, in Patna, Petrol costs Rs 105.90 per litre and diesel Rs 91.09 per litre.

Increase in price suspected? 

According to a report by ICICI Securities for fuel retailers to break even, it is necessary to increase petrol and diesel prices by over Rs 12 per litre. The report stated that this increase should take place by March 16, but that hasn't happened yet.

With international oil prices - on which domestic fuel retails are directly benchmarked - spiking in the last two months, state-owned fuel retailers "need a massive price hike of Rs 12.1 per litre on or before March 16, just to breakeven and a price hike of Rs 15.1 is required" after including margins for oil firms, ICICI Securities said in a report, reported PTI.

Oil prices have been on the boil ever since Russia put its forces on the Ukraine border last month. They spiked after it invaded the central Asian nation on fears that oil and gas supplies from energy giant Russia could be disrupted by the conflict in Ukraine or retaliatory western sanctions.

Calibrated interventions to keep prices under control, says Govt

Cognizant of the ongoing volatility in Oil, the government on March 15 said it keeping a close watch on evolving geopolitical developments and would make 'calibrated interventions' to keep fuel prices under control to safeguard the interest of the common man.

Answering a question in the Rajya Sabha, on whether the government will cut excise duty to keep fuel price escalation due to the Ukrainian crisis in control, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) will take appropriate decisions on pricing of petrol and diesel in line with their international product prices, exchange rate, tax structure, inland freight and other cost elements etc.

He added that crude petroleum and natural gas, fuel & power subgroup in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is directly related to the fluctuations in the prices of crude oil.

Giving details of measures taken to keep fuel inflation under control, the minister said central excise duty on petrol and diesel was cut by Rs 5 per litre and Rs 10 per litre, respectively, with effect from November 4, 2021. Many states governments have also reduced Value Added Tax on petrol and diesel.

"Consequently, retail prices of petrol and diesel sobered down across the country. In order to safeguard the interests of the common man, retail prices of diesel and petrol have not been revised since November 2021, despite the increase in global crude oil prices," Chaudhary said.

Oil price benchmarks fall below $100, first time in weeks

Meanwhile, oil prices have tumbled more than 6% on Tuesday to their lowest in almost three weeks, as Russia suggested it would allow a revival of the Iran nuclear deal to go forward and as traders worried growing pandemic lockdowns in China could dent demand.

Both Brent and US crude futures benchmark settled below $100 per barrel for the first time since late February. Since reaching 14-year highs on March 7, Brent has slid nearly $40 and WTI more than $30. Trading has been extremely volatile since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two weeks ago.

Follow all live updates on Russia Ukraine Crisis here