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Petrol, Diesel Prices At All-Time High On Rupee Woes

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 31 paise and 39 paise a litre, respectively, on Monday.

A droplet of petrol falls from a refueling nozzle. (Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg)
A droplet of petrol falls from a refueling nozzle. (Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg)

Petrol and diesel prices in the country touched their all-time highs on Monday because of a fall in the rupee and higher crude oil.

Petrol rates were hiked by 31 paise a litre on Monday. Price of petrol in Delhi rose to a record Rs 79.15 a litre, according to price notifications of the state-owned fuel retailers. A litre of petrol in Mumbai now costs Rs 86.56. Diesel rates were hiked by 39 paise per litre—the steepest increase since the daily revision in prices was introduced in June 2017—to Rs 71.15 a litre in Delhi. Diesel now costs Rs 75.54 a litre in Mumbai.

Prices in Delhi are the cheapest in all metros and most state capitals due to lower sales tax or value added tax. Fuel prices vary from state to state due to local levies. Petrol prices have risen by over Rs 2 per litre since Aug. 16. Diesel prices have risen by Rs 2.42 a litre during the period.

Officials said the spike in rates is on account of exchange rate falling to a record Rs 71 to a dollar, depreciating by Rs 2.5 in a month.

Also, crude oil has gained $7 a barrel in a fortnight, driven by fears that the U.S. sanctions on Iran will likely contract supplies. Appreciation of the dollar against the rupee has also pushed up rates for compressed natural gas as well as piped natural gas, since the price of gas procured by city distributors is mostly dollar-denominated.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd., which retails gas in the national capital, on Sunday raised the prices of CNG by 63 paise per kg and by Rs 1.11 per standard cubic meter for piped natural gas supplied to households for cooking purposes.