Petrol prices stay above Rs 100 in Rajasthan as fuel gets costlier for ninth straight day
Following Wednesday’s increase of 25 paise, petrol in Delhi cost Rs 89.54 per litre, while every litre of diesel cost Rs 79.95.
Petrol and diesel prices continued to hit record high levels on Wednesday as oil manufacturing companies hiked fuel prices for the ninth consecutive day, NDTV reported. In Delhi, following the 25 paise increase in both the fuels, petrol was priced at Rs 89.54 per litre, while diesel cost Rs 79.95 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel rates stood at Rs 96 per litre and Rs 86.98 per litre, respectively.
Meanwhile, petrol prices continued to soar above the Rs 100 per litre-mark in some parts of the country. In Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar town, petrol cost Rs 100.13 per litre, while diesel was priced at Rs 92.13 a litre, according Mint. Prices of petrol with additives had breached the Rs 100-mark for the first time in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh earlier this week.
Fuel prices vary from state to state and taxes are levied on them by both central as well as the state governments. Rajasthan, which levies the highest Value Added Tax on fuel in the country, had last month cut VAT on petrol and diesel by 2%, according to PTI.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday said that in addition to a rebate of Rs 2 per litre announced earlier on fuel prices, the state government has decided to reduce petrol prices by a further Rs 5.40 per litre and diesel by Rs 5.10 per litre, ANI reported.
However, amid growing criticism from the Opposition and other quarters, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had informed Parliament last week that there was “no proposal” currently to reduce the tax burden on consumers on petrol and diesel prices, the Hindu BusinessLine reported.
As far as global crude oil prices are concerned, they cooled down marginally on Wednesday from the 13-month high it hit on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Oil prices have run up strongly in recent months and supply disruptions caused by a historic winter storm in Texas, the United States’ largest oil producing state and due to a voluntary production cut by Saudi Arabia.