Petrol, Diesel Prices Hit New High For The 3rd Straight Day

On Thursday, fuel prices in India touched new highs after the third consecutive day of an increase in rates. Petrol prices were raised by 24-25 paise per litre to Rs 87.85 in New Delhi, Rs 89.16 in Kolkata, Rs 94.36 in Mumbai and Rs 90.18 in Chennai.

Diesel prices per litre were up 30 paise to Rs 78.03 in New Delhi, Rs 81.61 in Kolkata, Rs 84.94 in Mumbai and Rs 83.18 in Chennai.

These rates are revised every day primarily based on international oil prices and rupee's exchange rate.

In the international market, Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil prices, slipped by 39 cents to $61.08 a barrel on Thursday after touching its highest since January 2020 on the previous day, but losses were curbed by production cuts and hope that rollouts of vaccines will drive a recovery in demand.

Brent has risen for the previous nine sessions, its longest sustained period of gains since January 2019.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has not taken measures to reduce the excise duties hiked during the lockdown period, when international oil prices had crashed. Taking advantage of the low rates, the central government had increased the excise duty on petrol to Rs 32.98 per litre from Rs 19.98 and diesel to Rs 31.83 per litre from Rs 15.83, as a means to recover loss of revenue during the lockdown. Similar hikes in taxes were also announced by state governments.