Prices of petrol and diesel have remained steady for more than 40 days now. Since the end of a four-and-a-half-month-long halt in rate revision on March 22, rates of petrol and diesel have increased by Rs 10 a litre each through 14 revisions. Fuel prices were last hiked on April 6 by 80 paise a litre each.
According to a price notification from fuel retailers, petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 105.41 a litre and diesel Rs 96.67 a litre.
In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices are at Rs 120.51 and Rs 104.77 per litre, respectively. In Chennai, petrol costs Rs 110.85 and diesel Rs 100.94 per litre; and in Kolkata, petrol is at Rs 115.12 per litre and diesel at Rs 99.83 per litre.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) began to raise retail prices of fuel on March 22. In March, the hike was Rs 6.40 a litre each and in April the hike was Rs 3.60 a litre each. In May, there has been no change in prices, so far.
India meets 80 percent of its oil needs through imports. Retail rates are adjusted according to the global movement in crude prices.
OMCs adjust the rates of petrol and diesel every day, depending on the average price of benchmark fuel in the global market over the previous 15 days and foreign exchange rates.
Oil prices settled slightly higher on Friday as a planned European Union ban on Russian oil and easing of COVID-19 lockdowns in China countered concerns that slowing economic growth will hurt demand.
Brent futures for July delivery rose 51 cents, or 0.5%, to $112.55 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June rose $1.02, or 0.9%, to settle at $113.23 on its on its last day as the front-month.
Union Minister Rameswar Teli on May 18 said that prices of petrol and diesel cannot be controlled till India increases production of oil, saying that the country is dependent on international market for its fuel needs.
"About 83 percent of oil consumed in the country is imported by us. We are dependent on international market, and till we increase our production, its price cannot be controlled," the minister of state for petroleum and natural gas said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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