In Kolkata, petrol prices, currently inching towards a four year high, stood at Rs.
80.61 The petrol prices surged for the thirteenth straight day on Saturday, with the petrol being sold for Rs 77.97 per litre in New Delhi.
The petrol prices surged to Rs 77.97 in Delhi from Rs 77.83 a litre on Friday, data from the Indian Oil Corp (IOC) website revealed.
Along with Delhi, prices in Mumbai and Chennai have already reached record levels and are only reaching new highs every single day.In Mumbai and Chennai, petrol prices stood at Rs 85.78 and Rs 80.95 a litre, respectively, higher than Rs 85.65 and Rs 80.80 per litre on Friday.Following are the petrol prices in four metro cities on May 26 (Saturday):MetrosPricesDelhi77.97Kolkata80.61Mumbai85.78Chennai80.95Further, in Kolkata, petrol prices, currently inching towards a four year high, stood at Rs 80.61, against 80.47 a litre a day before.
The jump in petrol prices can be attributed largely to the recent rise in crude oil prices and the high excise duty on the fuels in the country.The price of international Brent crude oil, however, has declined around $3 per barrel in the last two days, which triggered the hopes of easing fuel prices in the country.
Brent crude is currently priced around $76 per barrel.However, the global oil prices had surged near November 2014 highs after breaking through $80 for the first time in a few years earlier this month.
Domestic petrol and diesel prices are determined by a matrix of crude oil prices and rupee-dollar forex rates.
The Indian rupee made some recovery against the US dollar last week on Thursday, but was only eight paise away from an 18-month low of 68.42 against the greenback registered recently.MonthDelhiKolkataMumbaiChennaiMay 25, 201877.8380.4785.6580.8May 24, 201877.4780.1285.2980.42May 23, 201877.1779.8384.9980.11May 22, 201876.8779.5384.779.79May 21, 201876.5779.2484.479.47May 20, 201876.2478.9184.0779.13May 19, 201875.9178.5983.7578.78May 18, 201875.6178.2983.4578.46May 17, 201875.3278.0183.1678.16May 16, 201875.177.7982.9477.93May 15, 201874.9577.6582.7977.77May 14, 201874.877.582.6577.61May 13, 201874.6377.3282.4877.43Prices of diesel, the key transportation fuel, which are already at record levels across the major cities rose to Rs 68.90, Rs 71.45, Rs 73.36 and Rs 72.74 a litre on Saturday in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai respectively.MetrosPricesDelhi68.9Kolkata71.45Mumbai73.36Chennai72.74India imports more than 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements.
Fuel, however, is a huge source of revenue for the government.
Government data shows the Finance Ministry raised excise duty on petrol and diesel nine times between November 2014 and February 2016.
Excise duty was reduced only once in October 2017.
(With IANS inputs)