Petrol nears Rs 100/ltr in Delhi with another 35p hike

Fuel prices continued an upward march on Sunday and the petrol was priced at Rs 99.51 per litre in the national capital.

In Delhi, the price of the fuel increased by 35 paise. Oil marketing companies raised fuel prices on Sunday after keeping them unchanged for a day.

The price of diesel in Delhi also increased to Rs 89.36 from the Saturday price of Rs 89.18 per litre.

In the other key cities too petrol prices continued to climb to new highs. In Mumbai, it was priced at Rs 105.58 per litre, while in Chennai also it has surpassed the Rs 100-mark and is currently at Rs 100.44 a litre.

Price of petrol in Kolkata is also inching closer to the three-figure mark and on Sunday it was sold for Rs 99.45 a litre.

In tandem with petrol prices, diesel prices also were raised on Sunday. Price of diesel in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata was Rs 96.91, Rs 93.91 and Rs 92.27 per litre, respectively.

Officials in oil companies attribute the consistent increase in fuel prices to development in the global oil markets where both product and crude price have been firming up for the past couple of months on demand rise amidst the slowing of pandemic. However, a closer look at the fuel retail prices in India gives a picture that it is the high level of taxes that is keeping fuel rates higher even in times when global oil prices are firm.

Global crude oil price is now hovering around $75 a barrel. It was over $80 a barrel in October 2018 but even then, the petrol prices hovered around Rs 80 a litre across the county. So, even with lower oil prices now, petrol prices have hit a century and crossed it by a wider margin now in several parts of the country.

The only way retail prices could be brought down in this period is by way of tax cuts by both the Centre and States, suggests experts as crude oil prices are seen rising from here on.

Fuel prices are already touching new highs every other day.

With global crude prices also rising on a pick up demand and depleting inventories of world's largest fuel guzzler -- the US, retail prices of fuel in India are expected to firm up further in coming days. The benchmark Brent crude reached a multi-year high-level of over $75 on ICE or Intercontinental Exchange.