The price of petrol in Delhi on Wednesday touched a record high of Rs 84.45 per litre as state-owned fuel retailers raised rates after a five-day hiatus, reported PTI, quoting a price notification from oil marketing companies.

Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 25 paise per litre each. This took the cost of petrol in the Capital to Rs 84.45 per litre. With this, Delhi broke its previous record of Rs 84.20 per litre recorded on January 7. Diesel, on the other hand, was priced at Rs 74.63 on Wednesday.

The last time the price of petrol was as high as Rs 84 per litre in Delhi was on October 4, 2018. On that day, diesel too had scaled to an all-time high of Rs 75.45 a litre.

In Mumbai, the cost of petrol was Rs 91.07 and that of diesel was a record-high of Rs 81.34. The highest rate for petrol in Mumbai was recorded on October 4, 2018, when it was Rs 91.34.

State-owned fuel retailers – Indian Oil Corporation Limited , Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited – had on January 6 resumed daily price revision after nearly a month-long break. Following this, rates rose on two consecutive days before they hit a pause button again.

The price increase cycle resumed on Wednesday after international oil prices rose for the seventh day. The United States West Texas Intermediate was up 1.3% at $53.88 a barrel, while Brent crude was up 79 cents at $57.37. Both benchmarks are trading at the highest since February, before the coronavirus outbreak began spreading across the world, forcing countries to impose lockdowns.

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.