Petrol, diesel prices at record high levels as rates hiked again
New Delhi, Oct 7: Petrol and diesel prices across the country soared to all-time high levels on Thursday as rates were hiked again in line with the spurt in international oil prices.
Petrol price was increased by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 103.24 a litre and to Rs 109.25 per litre in Mumbai, the notification showed.
Diesel rates too touched a record high of Rs 91.42 in Delhi and inched closer to the Rs 100-a-litre mark in Mumbai. It currently costs Rs 99.55 a litre in Mumbai.
Prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes.
The increase on Thursday pushed rates to a new record high. Petrol crossed the Rs 100-a-litre mark in Lucknow and Gandhinagar - the last of the handful of state capitals that had rates less than that.
Petrol prices, which is dictated by the incidence of local taxes and freight, had already crossed the Rs 100 mark in several places in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The only state capitals where petrol now is less than Rs 100 are Dehradun, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Ranchi.
Diesel is already above the Rs 100 mark in several cities in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Sri Ganganagar, the border town in Rajasthan, had the costliest fuel in the country with petrol costing Rs 115.14 a litre and diesel coming for Rs 105.64. UT of Daman had the cheapest petrol at Rs 98.26 per litre.
State-owned fuel retailers have in the past few days resorted to modest increases to align domestic rates with cost. But with international benchmark Brent crude soaring to USD 81 per barrel after the decision by OPEC+ not to increase output more than 0.4 million barrels per day, fuel rates are being increased by a larger proportion.
A month back Brent was around USD 72 per barrel.
Being a net importer of oil, India prices petrol and diesel at rates equivalent to international prices.
With international crude oil prices moving in both directions during July and August, no price increase was carried out by oil marketing companies (OMCs) from July 18 to September 23. Instead, petrol price was cut by Rs 0.65 a litre and diesel by Rs 1.25.
However, with no respite from surging international prices, OMCs have started to increase the retail selling price of petrol and diesel with effect from September 28 and September 24, respectively.
Since then, diesel rates have gone up by Rs 3.15 paise per litre and petrol price has increased by Rs 2.15.
Prior to the July/August price cuts, the petrol price was increased by Rs 11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17. Diesel rate had gone up by Rs 9.14 during this period.
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Vijay unable to prove majority, not invited for CM oath ceremony: Sources
Chennai: Actor-politician Vijay has reportedly not been invited to take oath as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after failing to demonstrate support from the required number of MLAs, sources in Raj Bhavan said.
According to media reports that quoted sources in the office of R.N. Ravi Arlekar, Vijay could not prove the backing of 118 legislators, the majority mark in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Despite last-minute efforts to secure support from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazagam (AMMK), and an IUML legislator, Vijay reportedly managed support from only 116 MLAs, falling short by two members.
Sources said Vijay failed to submit letters of support from the VCK and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).
Later, the IUML issued a statement clarifying that it was not part of the TVK-led alliance.
Meanwhile, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran is also said to have informed the Governor that his party would support the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) instead.
Earlier in the evening, Vijay had met Governor Arlekar and staked claim to form the government, stating that he enjoyed the support of 118 MLAs.
