Petrol and diesel prices touched a new high for the fifth consecutive day on Friday. State-run oil companies resumed the dynamic pricing mechanism on Monday after 19 days. Retail prices were frozen between April 24 and May 13, while campaigning was on for the Karnataka Assembly elections. There was a similar freeze before the Gujarat Assembly elections in December.
With the latest revision, a litre of petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 75.61 while diesel will be available for Rs 67.08 a litre. Petrol prices in other metros too touched new highs on Friday – Rs 78.29 in Kolkata, Rs 83.45 in Mumbai and Rs 78.46 in Chennai, according to the Indian Oil Corporation. Diesel prices touched Rs 69.63 in Kolkata, Rs 71.42 in Mumbai and Rs 70.80 in Chennai.
Since June, the price of fuel in India has been revised almost daily in sync with fluctuations in the price of oil in international markets.
India has the highest retail prices of petrol and diesel among South Asian nations since taxes account for half of the pump rates. The government raised the excise duty on fuel nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices declined, but then cut the tax by Rs 2 a litre in October.
In June, state-owned oil companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation discontinued a 15-year practice of revising rates every fortnight and switched to daily revisions. Consequently, any rise in global crude prices affects rates in India almost immediately.
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