Fuel prices rise again, petrol scales new record in Delhi

Representative image (Source: Reuters)

The retail price of petrol scaled a new high in Delhi on January 27 with oil marketing companies (OMCs) raising the prices by 25 paise a litre to Rs 86.30. Similarly, prices of diesel also increased by 25 paise to Rs 76.48 a litre.

In Mumbai, diesel prices touched a record high of Rs 83.30 a litre, while petrol was seen at Rs 92.86 a litre, up 27 paise and 24 paise, respectively. Diesel prices had touched an all-time high of Rs 81.94 a litre in Delhi on July 20, 2020.

So far, in the month of January, petrol prices were hiked Rs 2.59 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.61 a litre in Delhi. On the other hand, in Mumbai, petrol prices jumped Rs 2.52 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.79 a litre since January 1. It was on January 6 only that OMCs raised fuel prices after a gap of 29 days.

Though there were speculations of an excise duty cut, the government is yet to take a final call on this. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas had requested the finance ministry to cut taxes after prices started rising in the month of January. During the current financial year, taxes on petrol and diesel were raised by Rs 13 and Rs 16, respectively, in the form of special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess.