Petrol, diesel prices hiked again; CNG gets costlier in Delhi
Fuel prices were raised again by 80 paise/liter on Wednesday, the 14th such increase in 16 days. Petrol and diesel prices have risen by Rs. 10/liter in the last 16 days, following a four-and-a-half-month hiatus in rate revision that ended on March 22. Meanwhile, the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) was hiked in Delhi by Rs. 2.5/kg.
- Evidently, the hike in fuel prices, which started on March 22, is burning a hole in commoners' pockets.
- Out of 16 days, only on two days--March 24 and April 1--the prices had remained stable.
- Notably, fuel prices are rising due to the sky-rocketing price of crude oil in the international market.
The following are the current CNG retail rates in major cities as of Wednesday. Rs.66.61/kg in Delhi (as per Indraprastha Gas Limited) Rs.69.18/kg in Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad Rs.73.86/kg in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, and Shamli Rs.74.94/kg in Gurugram Rs.76.98/kg in Gujarat (as per Gujarat Gas Limited) Rs.75.27/kg for Karnal Rs.78.40/kg in Kanpur, Hamirpur, and Fatehpur Rs.76.89/kg in Ajmer and Pali
Following Wednesday's price revision, the petrol rate in Mumbai is now Rs. 120.51/liter and diesel costs Rs. 104.77/liter. In Kolkata, petrol and diesel rates stood at Rs. 115.12/liter and Rs. 99.83/liter, respectively. In Chennai, petrol and diesel now retail at Rs. 110.95/liter and Rs. 101.14/liter, respectively. The price of petrol and diesel in Delhi is Rs. 105.41/liter and Rs. 96.67/liter, respectively.
According to Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, despite the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on crude oil prices around the world, India's fuel price hike was only 5% between April 2021 and March 2022. As a result of the war, fuel prices have risen by more than 50% in some developed and developing countries, he added.
The Oil Minister said on Tuesday, "We are not the only country impacted by the war," adding that "petrol prices have gone up by over 50% in countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, and Sri Lanka."
Opposition parties have been attacking the government over the never-ending rise in petrol and diesel prices. On Tuesday, Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slammed the Centre over rising fuel prices, claiming that with the "80-20" remark during the UP elections, the BJP meant that they would raise the price of petrol and diesel by 80 paise each for 20 days.
Notably, prices were frozen by state-fuel retailers on November 4—ahead of five state assembly elections—when the cost of crude oil has risen by about $30/barrel. As per Kotak Institutional Equities, to compensate for losses, oil marketing companies "will need to raise diesel prices by Rs. 13.1-24.9/liter and petrol prices by Rs. 10.6-22.3/liter at an underlying crude price of $100-120 per barrel."
