INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Since the start of this year, in top cities, petrol prices have risen by over Rs 4 per litre.
Petrol and
diesel prices continued to rise, hitting multi-year highs, amid an upward trend in global crude prices
Petrol prices retailed at Rs 74.08 per litre in Delhi, the highest since September 2013, according to Indian Oil website
In Kolkata petrol today retailed at Rs 76.78, in Mumbai at Rs 81.93 and in Chennai at Rs 76.85
In Delhi, diesel retailed at record high of Rs 65.31, according to Indian Oil website
In Kolkata, diesel rates were at 68.01, in Mumbai at Rs 69.54 and in Chennai at Rs 68.9.Global oil prices have risen to their highest since
late 2014 built on the ongoing drawdowns in global supply
Brent crude futures were today steady at $73.78 a barrel
Also supporting global crude prices is the possibility that the United States might reimpose sanctions on Iran, OPEC's third-largest
producer, which could result in further supply reductions.MetrosNon-Branded Petrol Prices (Rs) On 20/4/2018Rates on
19/4/2018Delhi65.3165.27Kolkata68.0167.97Mumbai69.5469.5Chennai68.968.86Since the start of this month, petrol prices have gone up by over 50
And diesel by Rs 5-6 per litre.State-owned oil companies - Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation - in June last year dumped the 15-year old practice of revising rates on the 1st and 16th of every month
Instead, they adopted a daily price revision system to instantly reflect changes in cost
Since then, prices are revised on a daily basis.Besides the global crude prices, domestic petrol and diesel prices depend on government
taxes, both at the central and the state level, among other factors
India imports bulk of its energy requirements.The central government had cut excise duty by Rs
2 per litre in October 2017, when petrol price reached Rs
70.88 per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs
Because of the reduction in excise duty, diesel prices had on October 4, 2017 come down to Rs
56.89 per litre and petrol to Rs.68.38 per litre
However, a global rally in crude prices pushed domestic fuel prices far higher than those levels.The October 2017 excise duty cut cost the
government Rs 26,000 crore in annual revenue and about Rs
13,000 crore during the remaining part of the current fiscal year.
