Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 80 paise a litre each on Friday, the third such hike this week.

A litre of petrol will cost Rs 97.81, while diesel will be sold at Rs 89.07 in Delhi, a price notification of Indian state fuel retailers showed. In Mumbai, India’s financial capital, the price of petrol rose to Rs 112.51 per litre, while diesel price went up to Rs 96.70.

The price of petrol in Chennai is Rs 103.67, while diesel cost Rs 93.71. In Kolkata, a litre of petrol rose to Rs 107.18, while diesel will be sold at Rs 92.22.

This is the steepest single-day increase in rates since the daily price revision started in June 2017, according to PTI.

On Tuesday, fuel prices were increased by 80 paise a litre in the first hike in 137 days. Meanwhile, liquified petroleum gas prices were increased by Rs 50 per cylinder. The LPG rate was last revised on October 6.

Then, on Wednesday, prices of petrol and diesel were raised by 80 paise a litre each again for the second straight day. With three rate revisions beginning March 22, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by Rs 2.40 a litre.

Meanwhile on Friday, leaders of Opposition parties, including the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Left, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Indian Union Muslim League, walked out of the House on Friday to register their protest on the rising fuel prices, reported PTI.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi questioned the government during Zero Hour as to why there has been a sudden increase in prices after a hiatus of 137 days during the Assembly elections.

He noted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had been simmering since December but the prices of fuel and cooking gas suddenly increased thrice this week.

“We don’t know how many more hikes await the people of India and people of India have just returned from Omicron,” he said. “They want an environment where they can do their business but all these price hikes have increased the cost of business, especially the price of transportation, and this will lead to inflation.”

Opposition leaders have sought a response from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the matter.

State-run oil companies had not raised prices since November 4, a move Opposition leaders and observers attributed to the Assembly elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Higher fuel prices could have led to protests and harmed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances of winning the polls.

Oil companies kept the rates steady despite surging global crude oil prices. Higher costs are detrimental to India as it imports 85% of its crude oil.

The three state-run fuel retailers – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation – together lost around $2.25 billion (about Rs 19,000 crore) in revenue for keeping petrol and diesel prices on hold during Assembly polls, Moody’s Investors Services said, reported PTI.

According to CRISIL Research, fuel prices need to be increased by Rs 15 to Rs 20 per litre to fully pass the increase in international oil prices.