Petrol price at Rs.85 a litre

Petrol price on January 19 breached the Rs 85 a litre mark in New Delhi and diesel neared record high after rates were raised for the second consecutive day.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies.

This took the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 85.20 per litre and to Rs 91.80 in Mumbai. Diesel rate climbed to Rs 75.38 a litre in the national capital and to an all-time high of Rs 82.13 in Mumbai, the price data showed.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each the day before as well.

While petrol and diesel prices are at a record high in Mumbai, petrol price in the national capital is at an all-time high. Diesel price is just short of Rs.75.45 a litre record touched on October 4, 2018.

State-owned fuel retailers — Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) — had on January 6 resumed daily price revision after nearly a month-long hiatus.

Since then rates have gone up by Rs 1.49 a litre on petrol and Rs 1.51 in case of diesel.

This comes after international oil prices firmed up on hopes of demand returning from the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in different countries, including India.

When fuel prices had last touched record high on October 4, 2018, the government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and boost consumer confidence. Alongside, state-owned fuel retailers cut prices by another Re 1 a litre, which they recouped later.

This time, there are no indications of a duty cut so far.

Petrol and diesel prices are revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates. They vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.