State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) have increased the retail prices of sensitive petroleum fuel like petrol and diesel for the 12th consecutive day on Thursday since the OMCs returned to the normal practice of daily reviews following a 12-week pause. Petrol price was hiked by 53 paisa a liter while diesel price was increased by 64 paisa a liter in Delhi, taking the cumulative price hike to Rs 6.55 a liter for petrol and Rs 7.13 a liter for diesel in the last 12 days. A litre of petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 77.81 a liter, in Mumbai Rs 84.66 a litre, in Kolkata Rs 79.59 a liter and in Chennai Rs 81.40 a liter, according to the notifications by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), India’s largest fuel retailer. Similarly, after the price revision, a liter of diesel now costs Rs 76.43 a liter in Delhi, Rs 74.93 a liter in Mumbai, Rs 71.96 a liter in Kolkata and Rs 74.31 a liter in Chennai. Rates have been increased across the country and vary from State to State depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT. The current spike in fuel rates comes at a time when international crude oil rates have moderated to around $40 a barrel. OMCs have been adjusting retail rates in line with costs after an 82-day break from rate revision amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances. Fuel retailing in the country is dominated by state refiners -IOCL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). The three own about 90% of the fuel retail in the country. Demand for petrol and diesel fell significantly during the lockdown in India but has now recovered to around 85% of pre-Covid-19 levels.
