New Delhi: Petrol price touched all time high of Rs 76.24 per litre and diesel price climbed to its highest level of Rs 67.57 per litre on Sunday, thereby giving no relief to common people who are facing the brunt of relentless rise in oil prices for the past several weeks.
As per notification issued by state owned oil firms, petrol price increased by 33 paisa in the national capital and diesel by 26 paisa.
This is the seventh straight day of price increase since oil PSUs on May 14 resumed daily price revision once assembly polls were over in Karnataka. In all, petrol price has been raised by Rs 1.61 a litre and diesel by Rs 1.64 per litre in last one week
Across the country, petrol is the costliest in Mumbai where high local taxes has led a price of Rs 84.07 per litre. Petrol has breached Rs 80 mark in Bhopal (Rs 81.83 a litre), Patna (Rs 81.73), Hyderabad ( Rs 80.76) and Srinagar (Rs 80.35), according to the price notification. Petrol in Kolkata costs Rs 78.91 per litre while it is priced at Rs 79.13 in Chennai. The cheapest petrol is available in Panjim where a litre comes for Rs 70.26
Diesel is the costliest in Hyderabad were it is priced at Rs 73.45 a litre due to high local taxes. It is priced at Rs 73.34 in Trivandrum. Other cities where diesel rates have crossed Rs 70 mark are Raipur (Rs 72.96 a litre), Gandhinagar (Rs 72.63), Bhubhaneswar (Rs 72.43), Patna (Rs 72.24), Jaipur (Rs 71.97), Ranchi (Rs 71.35), Bhopal (Rs 71.12) and Srinagar (Rs 70.96).
A litre of diesel costs Rs 71.94 in Mumbai, Rs 70.12 in Kolkatta and Rs 71.32 in Chennai, the notification said. Diesel is the cheapest in Port Blair where it is priced at Rs 63.35. Earlier, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg refused to say if the government will cut excise duty on auto fuel to ease the burden on consumers.
The government is watching the situation developing from oil prices hitting $ 80 a barrel — the highest since November 2014, and adequate steps will be taken, is all that the official said without elaborating further.
