The hike pushes the petrol price in Delhi to ₹ 82.72 a litre and diesel to ₹ 74.02

Petrol on Monday crossed the ₹ 90-mark in Mumbai as a dip in the value of rupee and rise in international oil prices pushed the rates across the country to a new all-time high.

Petrol prices were hiked by 11 paise a litre and diesel by 5 paise, according to price notification of the State-owned oil firms.

The hike pushed the petrol price in Delhi to ₹ 82.72 and diesel to ₹ 74.02.

In Mumbai, the petrol price crossed ₹ 90-mark for the first time ever. The fuel now costs ₹ 90.08 at the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) outlets in the city, while it is priced at ₹ 90.17 at the Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) outlets and ₹ 90.14 at the Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) stations.

India is the third largest importer of crude oil and rising international oil prices are inflating domestic transport fuel costs in a strong demand environment. Brent, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, climbed to USD 80 per barrel from USD 71 in the last five weeks, and the Indian rupee lost ground against the dollar by 5-6 per cent during the same period, resulting in expensive crude imports.

Delhi has the cheapest fuel rates

Delhi has the cheapest fuel rates among all metros and most State capitals because of lower taxes. Mumbai has the highest sales tax or VAT.

According to the oil companies, the refinery gate price of petrol, without considering any central or State tax and dealer’s commission, is ₹ 42.04 a litre. The same for diesel is ₹ 45.34.

The retail rates are arrived at after adding excise duty, which is charged by the Central government, commission paid to petrol pumps dealers and VAT, charged by the State governments.

Dealer’s commission on petrol currently is ₹ 3.66 a litre and that on diesel is ₹ 2.52.

Since mid-August, the petrol price has risen by ₹ 5.58 a litre and diesel by ₹ 5.3 - the most in any month since the daily price revision was introduced in mid-June last year.

Diesel at the IOC outlets in Mumbai costs ₹ 78.58, at the HPCL stations for ₹ 78.67 and for ₹ 78.67 at the BPCL pumps.

Petrol in Kolkata costs ₹ 84.63 and diesel ₹ 75.95. In Chennai, petrol is priced at ₹ 86.08 and diesel at ₹ 78.35.