New Delhi; 30 Sep 2018; PTI: Petrol, diesel prices hit another record high on Sunday as the upward trend in fuel prices continued. Petrol prices were increased by 9-10 paise per litre on Sunday while diesel prices were hiked by 16-17 paise across the four metro cities.
In Delhi, petrol was retailing at Rs 83.49 per litre while diesel was sold at Rs 74.79 after today's hike. In the country's business capital Mumbai, petrol price moved closer to the Rs 91 per litre mark to Rs 90.84 while diesel was priced at Rs 79.40.
Fuel prices have been witnessing a steep rise since the past few weeks. While the Opposition has blamed the union government for not doing enough to keep a check on prices, the latter has maintained that global crude oil prices and other international factors are causing a hike in prices of petroleum products.
As per India's pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend upon the international fuel prices on a 15-day average and the value of the Indian rupee. It may be noted that Brent crude, a benchmark of international crude prices, is trading near a four-year high of $83 per barrel mark. The rupee has also depreciated nearly 12 per cent in this year so far.
It is worth mentioning here is that taxes on petrol and diesel is one of the highest in India. Including excise duty and state VAT, consumers are paying nearly 40 per cent tax on petrol in Delhi while in Mumbai, it is even higher. The central government has hiked excise duty on petrol many times when international crude prices were on a downward trend. However, the government did not reverse the excise duty hike when international oil prices again resumed an upward trend, resulting in the higher retailing price for petrol and diesel.
