Fuel prices in India hiked for the eighth time in nine days on Wednesday. Prices of both petrol and diesel increased by 80 paise a litre each, and the total hike has now climbed to ₹5.60 a litre.
In the national capital Delhi, petrol and diesel are currently being sold at ₹101.01 per litre and ₹92.27 per litre respectively, after Wednesday’s hike.
In Mumbai, the price of diesel has crossed the ₹100-mark and is being sold at ₹100.10 per litre, while petrol prices are at ₹115.88 per litre.
In Kolkata, petrol is being sold at ₹110.52 per litre and diesel at ₹95.42. Meanwhile, in Chennai, the prices of petrol and diesel are at ₹106.69 per litre and ₹96.76 per litre respectively.
Fuel rates have been surging across the country but they vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.
On Tuesday, the prices of diesel and petrol were hiked by 80 paise and 70 paise per litre respectively, pushing the total increase in their rates to ₹4.80 per litre.
There was a pause in the revision of fuel prices from November 2021, which was broken on March 22 following the crude oil increase in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the record hike in fuel prices in the country was due to the spike in global oil prices.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said opposition parties stated that the war in Ukraine had been raging for a long time and prices of fuel were being raised now.
Sitharaman hit back by saying that this was absolutely untrue and added that the disruption and a resultant increase in the price of global oil and also disruption to supply are all happening since a couple of weeks ago, and the Centre was responding to it.
Opposition parties have hit out at the Centre over the rising fuel prices. On Tuesday, Congress said the public very well understood the reason behind the spike in prices and it had lost faith in the government.
Members of the Congress’ youth wing staged a protest outside the petroleum ministry in Delhi and they raised slogans against the Centre. “The protesters symbolically carried an empty cylinder to bring attention towards rising fuel prices,” youth Congress national media in-charge Rahul Rao told news agency PTI.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said on Tuesday that the middle-class people in the country were feeling the heat of the high petrol and diesel prices.
On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying, “While India reels under soaring inflation and fuel price hike, Mr Modi unabashedly turns a blind eye. But, not anymore! Together, we will hold PM Modi and his government accountable for the nation’s plight.”
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