Petrol price in Delhi at 56 month peak, diesel at record high

Petrol and diesel prices have been hiked across the country after a 19 day break. The prices surged both on May 14 and 15, resulting in petrol’s net cost going up by 33 paise in Delhi, and diesel’s by 44 paise.

With May 15 increase, petrol price in Delhi was at a new 56 month peak, whereas the price of diesel registered a fresh all-time high. Petrol retailed at ₹74.95/litre in Delhi, ₹82.79/litre in Mumbai, ₹77.65/litre in Kolkata, and ₹77.77/litre in Chennai. On the other hand, diesel prices were at ₹66.36/litre, ₹70.66/litre, ₹68.9/litre and ₹70.02/litre, respectively.

Fuel prices have soared quite a bit in 2018 - petrol has risen by up to ₹5.24 across major metro cities, while diesel by up to ₹7.39. During the same period, the Indian National Rupee has weakened more than 5 per cent against the US dollar, resulting in crude oil import getting more expensive for oil companies.

All state-owned oil companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation - in June 2017 adopted a policy to revise fuel prices on a daily basis to better reflect changes in cost. The old policy of revising fuel rates twice a month was scrapped.