Petrol and diesel prices in the country touched their highest levels on Monday mainly due to dramatic fall in rupee and a sharp rise in crude oil rates.
Petrol price in Delhi rose to a record ₹79.15 a litre and diesel climbed to a fresh high of ₹71.15, according to price notification of State-owned fuel retailers.
This follows a 31 paise/litre hike in prices on September 3. Rates have breached the previous high of ₹78.43 a litre hit on May 28. On that day, the rate in Mumbai was ₹86.24 per litre.
A litre of petrol in Mumbai costs ₹86.56 on Monday.
Prices in Delhi are the cheapest in all metros and most State capitals due to lower sales tax or VAT.
Diesel rates on Monday were hiked by 39 paise a litre, the steepest increase since the daily revision in prices was introduced in mid-june 2017.
Diesel now costs ₹75.54 per litre in Mumbai.
Since August 16, petrol prices have risen by over ₹2 per litre. Diesel prices on the other hand have risen by ₹2.42 a litre during this period.
Diesel rates had hit ₹69.31 a litre on May 28, but this record was breached on August 27 and on Monday they hit a fresh high.
Fuel prices vary from State to State due to local levies.
Officials said the spike in rates is on account of exchange rate falling to a record ₹71 to a dollar, depreciating by ₹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.
The appreciation of dollar against rupee has also pushed up rates for compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as piped natural gas (PNG) 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 ₹1.11 per standard cubic metre for piped natural gas supplied to households for cooking purposes.
CNG now costs ₹42.60 per kg in Delhi and ₹49.30 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The consumer price of PNG to the households in Delhi has been increased to ₹28.25 per scm, while same in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be ₹30.10 per scm, which has been increased by ₹1.26 per scm.
