Petrol, diesel prices raised again for 2nd consecutive day
New Delhi, March 23: State-owned oil marketing companies on Wednesday raised petrol and diesel prices for the second consecutive day. These prices were revised for the very first time on Tuesday after a gap of more than 4-months.
Accordingly, the increase in selling price which includes state levies, central excise and cess amongst others came days after crude oil prices saw astronomical rise due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. In New Delhi, the price of petrol and diesel were increased again by 80 paise per litre.
As per pump prices, petrol now costs Rs 97.01 per litre and diesel Rs 88.27 per litre in Delhi. On Tuesday, petrol prices were increased to Rs 96.21 per litre and diesel to Rs 87.47 per litre. In the financial capital Mumbai, prices were hiked to Rs 111.67 per litre for petrol and diesel to Rs 95.85 per litre.
Besides, the prices of both the transport fuels were raised in Kolkata. The petrol prices rose to Rs 106.34 and diesel to Rs 91.42 per litre. In Chennai too, they were increased. Petrol there now costs Rs 102.91 and Rs 92.95 per litre. Till Tuesday, fuel prices were steady since early November when the Centre reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively.
The OMCs revise the transportation fuel cost based on various factors such as rupee to US Dollar exchange rate, cost of crude oil and demand of fuel amongst others. Resultantly, the final price includes excise duty, value added tax and dealer's commission. It was widely expected that the OMCs will revise the current prices due to high crude oil cost.
Lately, crude oil prices have been volatile surging by nearly 35-40 per cent on fear of tight supplies. Furthermore, it is feared that current sanctions against Russia will curtail more global supplies and stifle growth. The crude oil price range is a cause of concern for India as it may ultimately add Rs 15-Rs 25 in petrol and diesel selling prices. At present, India imports nearly 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements.