The prices of petrol continued to surge on Tuesday.

After reaching a four-year high on Sunday, the prices of petrol and diesel are still on a upward move. The prices of petrol continued to surge on Tuesday, touching a nearly five year high of Rs 73.95 per litre in Delhi. The previous high in Delhi was recorded at Rs 74.10 a litre in September 2013. In Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai too, prices of petrol climbed to fresh highs at Rs 81.80, Rs 76.66 and Rs 76.72 a litre, the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. website said. The previous high that was recorded in these cities was Rs 82.07 a litre (Mumbai in March 2014), Rs 77.88 a litre (Kolkata in May 2012) and Rs 77.53 a litre (Chennai in May 2012).

Diesel prices also touched new record highs today. On Tuesday, diesel prices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai were Rs 64.82 a litre , Rs 69.02 a litre , Rs 67.51 a litre and Rs 68.38 a litre respectively. The petrol prices were increased by 11-13 paise per litre on Tuesday in metro cities, while diesel increased by 13-14 paise, according to Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. website.

Due to ongoing tensions between China and the US, prices of both petrol and diesel have been on the rise off late as global crude oil prices are also surging as a result. The brent crude oil was priced around $68.01 per barrel on Tuesday.

Among all the South Asian nations, India has the highest retail prices of petrol and fuel. These taxes account for half of the pump rates. Earlier this year, the Oil Ministry asked for cut in excise duty on the transportation fuel to cushion the impact of surging global rates of crude oil. However, the government is yet to take notice of the same.

Between November 2014 and January 2016, the excise duty has been raised nine times in order to pick up finances as international crude fell. There was only one cut in the excise in October last year that also by Rs 2 a litre.

The government also asked states to lower VAT but only Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have done the same.