India / Petrol price hits all-time high of ₹84.2 per litre in Delhi

New Delhi: Petrol prices in Delhi were today hiked by 23 paise to an all-time high of ₹84.2 amid firming international oil prices. Diesel prices were today raised by 26 paise to ₹74.38 a litre. On Wednesday, oil marketing companies raised prices of both petrol and diesel by 26 paise per litre and 25 paise a litre in Delhi after a month-long hiatus.

In Mumbai, petrol retailed at ₹90.83 per litre while diesel at 81.07 per litre while in Chennai, petrol at ₹86.96 a litre and diesel at ₹79.72 a litre. In Kolkata, petrol was being sold today at ₹85.68 a litre while diesel at ₹77.97.

Highest ever rate of ₹84 a litre for petrol in Delhi was touched on October 4, 2018, according to Press Trust of India. Diesel too had scaled to an all-time high of ₹75.45 a litre on October 4, 2018.

On that day, the government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and boost consumer confidence. Alongside, state-owned fuel retailers cut prices by another Re 1 a litre, which they recouped later.

In addition to taxes, petrol and diesel prices in India depend on global oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate. A lower dollar makes oil cheaper because the commodity is mostly traded using the greenback.

In global markets, international benchmark Brent crude was up 8 cents at $54.38 a barrel, after gaining 1.3% overnight. The likelihood of tighter supplies after Saudi Arabia unilaterally agreed to cut output have led to a increase in global oil price in recent days.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, said it would voluntarily cut one million barrels per day (bpd) of output in February and March.

Though petrol and diesel rates are to be revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange, government-controlled fuel retailers have been moderating rates since the pandemic broke out.

The government had raised excise duty by ₹13 per litre on petrol and by ₹15 a litre on diesel in two instalments in March 2020 and May 2020 to garner additional revenue.