Fuel prices continue to rise with petrol and diesel rates rising by another 80 paise per litre each on Sunday, taking the total increase in rates in less than two weeks to Rs 8 per litre.
In the national capital, petrol now costs Rs 103.41 per litre, while diesel is selling at Rs 94.67 per litre. In Mumbai, the petrol has gone up by 84 paise, thus costing Rs 118.41 and diesel prices have been hiked by 85 paise, costing Rs 102.64 per litre. In Chennai, the price of petrol is Rs 108.96 (increased by 75 paise) a litre and diesel is Rs 99.04 per litre. In Kolkata, the price of petrol is Rs 113.03 a litre (increased by 84 paise) and diesel is Rs 97.82 per litre (increased by 80 paise).
There had been a pause in the revision of fuel prices since November 4 last year, which was broken on March 22, following the crude oil going upwards in the wake of the Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Prices are set to be raised further given the sharp jump in crude oil prices in the international markets. It will have a cascading impact on the prices of other items and lead to inflationary pressure and hurt growth while also impacting the prices of other items.
Meanwhile, Congress is holding a nationwide protest campaign ‘Mehngai Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ against price rises under which it is organising rallies and marches across the country from March 31 to April 7.
Notably, on November 3 last year, the Centre had cut excise duty by Rs 5 per litre on petrol and Rs 10 per litre on diesel to bring down the retail prices across the country.
Following this, several state governments had reduced Value-Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people.