Indian fuel prices hiked 15 times in 16 days

Fuel prices were hiked once again on Wednesday by 80 paise a litre, the 15th price hike in the duration of 16 days. Petrol and diesel prices have gone up by Rs. 10 per litre each in the past 16 days, after a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision ended on March 22.

Rates vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxation, with Mumbai having the highest fuel prices among the metro cities.

In Delhi, petrol can be bought for INR 105.41 (LKR 416.36) per litre, while diesel now costs INR 96.67 (LKR 381.84) per litre, according to the latest notification by state-owned fuel retailers. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel prices per litre were listed at INR 120.51 (LKR 476.01) per litre, increased by 84 cents, and INR 104.77 (LKR 413.84) per litre, increased by 85 cents.

The Centre has been facing the heat from opposition parties over the non-stop rise in petrol and diesel prices. Union petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the fuel price hike in India was only 5% between April 2021 and March 2022, despite the Russia-Ukraine war having impacted crude oil prices across the world Fuel prices have increased over 50 per cent in some other developed and developing nations in the aftermath of the war, he added.

“We are not the only country impacted by the war,” the minister said, adding that petrol prices have gone up by over 50 per cent in countries like the US, the UK, Canada and Germany.