Petrol nears ₹95 in Mumbai as rate hiked for fifth day in a row

In five days this week, price has gone up by ₹1.51 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by ₹1.56 a litre.

A worker seen filling petrol at a bunk in Chennai. File

Petrol price in Mumbai neared record ₹95 per litre mark on Saturday as its rate as well as diesel prices were hiked for the fifth day in a row.

Petrol price was increased by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 36 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

This took petrol price to an all-time high of ₹88.414 a litre in Delhi while diesel rate climbed to ₹78.74.

In Mumbai, petrol price soared to ₹94.93 per litre and diesel price jumped to record ₹85.70 a litre.

In five days this week, price has gone up by ₹1.51 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by ₹1.56 a litre.

The relentless hike in prices has been criticised by the opposition parties, including Congress that has demanded an immediate cut in taxes to ease the burden on the common man.

However, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday had told Parliament that the government is not considering a reduction in excise duty to cool rates from their record highs.

Rates have risen as international oil prices touched $61 per barrel for the first time in more than a year on improving demand outlook amid the global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, he had said.

Central and state taxes make up for over 61% of the retail selling price of petrol and about 56% of diesel.

The Union government levies ₹32.9 per litre of excise duty on petrol and ₹31.80 a litre on diesel.

Retail petrol rates have risen by ₹18.87 per litre since mid-March 2020 after the government raised taxes by a record margin to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices. Diesel rates have gone up by ₹16.45.