Petrol and diesel prices: The government has indicated short-term and long-term solutions to rising

Petrol and diesel prices today were hiked for the sixteenth straight day across the country. On Tuesday, petrol prices in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai were at Rs 78.43 per litre, Rs 86.24 per litre and Rs 81.43 per litre while diesel prices were at Rs Rs 69.31 a litre, Rs 73.79 a litre and Rs 73.18 a litre respectively, according to Indian Oil Corporation. In Kolkata, while petrol price crossed Rs 82 per litre for the first time ever, diesel price was only 14 paise away from Rs 72 per litre.The continued increase in domestic petrol and diesel prices is a result of higher global crude oil prices along with weakness in the rupee against the US dollar, among other factors. The government had last week indicated both short-term as well as long-term solutions to the rising fuel prices in the country. (Also read: Petrol, Diesel Should Be Brought Under GST: Nitin Gadkari

Metro/state capital Petrol price on May 29 in Rs. per litre Metro/state capital Diesel price on May 29 in Rs. per litre Port Blair 67.55 Port Blair 64.93 Panjim 72.28 Itanagar 66.54 Agartala 74.07 Aizwal 66.55 Aizwal 74.19 Chandigarh 67.31 Itanagar 74.21 Imphal 67.35 Chandigarh 75.43 Agartala 67.37 Daman 76.2 Kohima 67.64 Silvasa 76.27 Shimla 68.93 Imphal 76.48 Shillong 69.1 Kohima 76.85 Jullunder 69.2 Pondicherry 77.17 Delhi 69.31 Bhubhaneswar 77.23 Lucknow 69.47 Gandhinagar 77.72 Dehradun 69.65 Shillong 77.77 Ambala 69.83 Ranchi 77.98 Daman 70.06 Delhi 78.43 Silvasa 70.13 Ambala 78.53 Jammu 70.47 Shimla 78.58 Bangalore 70.5 Raipur 78.8 Panjim 70.55 Lucknow 78.82 Gangtok 71 Dehradun 79.34 Pondicherry 71.59 Bangalore 79.71 Kolkata 71.86 Jammu 80.1 Guwahati 72.37 Guwahati 80.66 Srinagar 72.69 Kolkata 81.06 Bhopal 72.95 Jaipur 81.22 Ranchi 73.16 Chennai 81.43 Chennai 73.18 Gangtok 81.45 Jaipur 73.79 Trivandrum 82.62 Mumbai 73.79 Srinagar 82.8 Patna 74.01 Hyderabad 83.08 Bhubhaneswar 74.3 Jullunder 83.7 Gandhinagar 74.49 Patna 83.89 Raipur 74.82 Bhopal 84.06 Trivandrum 75.2 Mumbai 86.24 Hyderabad 75.34 (Source: iocl.com)

A comparison of petrol and diesel prices in different parts of the country showed that fuel prices were the lowest in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar. With effect from 6 am on Tuesday, May 29, petrol was sold at Rs. 67.55 per litre and diesel at Rs. 64.93 per litre in Port Blair, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest fuel retailer. With that, Port Blair, Panjim, Agartala, Aizwal and Itanagar were the five cities with minimum petrol prices compared with the rest of the country. In case of diesel, other than Port Blair, Itanagar, Aizwal, Chandigarh and Imphal were the top cities with minimum prices.Brent crude oil prices in the international market have cooled off slightly on prospects that major producers may reverse some of the production cuts they have maintained for 17 months. If crude oil continues its downward movement, it might result in some relief for the domestic fuel consumer, say analysts. However, the rupee's movement against the US dollar also needs to be watched.Other than global crude prices and rupee-dollar forex rates, excise duty imposed by the Centre and VAT or value-added tax by the states are also responsible for the final price that consumers have to pay at the fuel stations. That is why there is a wide variation in petrol and diesel prices across different states.