After 19 day hiatus, petrol climbs to 82.79, diesel to 74.95 in Mumbai
Both petrol and diesel reached a record high after the hiatus (Representational Image)
After 19 days of stagnancy in the wake of Karnataka polls, the prices of petrol and diesel started rallying once again on the back of rising international crude oil prices.
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked after 19-days yesterday as oil firms began passing on the hike to consumers in line with the rise in international rates.
Although fuel prices are revised daily, the fluctuations were halted since April 25 due to the pre-Karnataka poll hiatus.
On Tuesday, according to Indian Oil Corporation’s official website, petrol rates were at Rs 82.79 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 74.95 per litre in Delhi, Rs 77.65 per litre in Kolkata and Rs 77.77 per litre in Chennai.
Similarly, diesel prices were at Rs 70.66 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 66.36 per litre in Delhi, Rs 68.9 per litre in Kolkata and Rs 70.02 per litre in Chennai.
With this, diesel prices have touched a record high while petrol reached a 56-month peak.
Earlier this month, IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh had stated that dynamic pricing was suspended temporarily despite a rise in international rates, to avoid panic among consumers.
“We have decided to temporarily moderate retail prices by not passing on the required increase as we believe the current international oil product prices are not supported by fundamentals. So we have decided to wait for a while,” Singh had told IANS, adding: “Passing them on to consumers will unnecessarily create panic.”
Oil PSUs, who had kept rates unchanged for nearly three weeks before Karnataka went to polls despite input cost spiking, reverted to daily revision in prices no sooner had the state voted to elect a new government on Saturday.
The firms, however, refused to acknowledge if the freeze followed a government diktat so as to help BJP in Karnataka.
According to estimates, since the start of April Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd have suffered a combined total loss of around Rs 1,500 – 1,700 crore in the wake of hiked crude oil prices.
Since India imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil requirement from the international market, the prices of petrol and diesel are directly proportional to international crude oil prices.
