Petrol price up 28 paise, diesel 29 paise a litre; rates touch 2-yr high
New Delhi: Petrol price on Sunday was hiked by 28 paise per litre and diesel by 29 paise, the fifth straight day of increase in rates due to firming international oil prices.
Petrol price in Delhi rose to Rs 83.41 per litre from Rs 83.13. Diesel rates went up from Rs 73.32 to Rs 73.61 per litre, according to a price notification of oil marketing companies.
Rates crossed Rs 90-mark for petrol and Rs 80 in case of diesel in Mumbai.
This is the fifth straight day of price hike and the 14th increase in rates since November 20 when oil companies resumed daily price revision after nearly two-month hiatus.
Rates are now at the highest level since September 2018.
In 17 days, the petrol price has gone up by Rs 2.35 per litre and diesel rate has risen by Rs 3.15.
Brent crude oil has risen 34 percent from USD 36.9 per barrel on October 30 to USD 49.5 on December 4 - the last trading day - on hopes that COVID-19 vaccines would lead to demand recovery.
Prior to the November 20 hike in rates in India, petrol prices had been static since September 22, and diesel rates hadn't changed since October 2.
Public sector oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) - revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on benchmark international oil price and foreign exchange rate.
They had, however, resorted to calibrating the rates since the pandemic broke out with a view to avoiding volatility in retail prices.
The 58-day hiatus in petrol price revision and 48-day status quo on diesel rates were preceded by no change in rates between June 30 and August 15 and an 85-day status quo between March 17 and June 6.
In Mumbai, the petrol price was raised to Rs 90.05 per litre from Rs 89.78, while diesel rates went up from Rs 79.93 to Rs 80.23.
Rates vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13; body of last missing person recovered
Jabalpur (PTI): The bodies of a five-year-old boy and his uncle were recovered from Bargi Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district on Sunday morning, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy to 13, police said.
The boat, around 20 years old and operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening.
"The bodies of Mayuram (5) and his uncle Kamraj (around 50), an employee of the Ordnance Factory in Khamaria, were found floating and were fished out of the dam," Bargi Sub Divisional Officer of Police Anjul Ayank Mishra told PTI over the phone.
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All 13 missing persons identified have now been accounted for, he said, adding the bodies were sent to a government hospital for postmortem.
Teams comprising around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, along with personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, were involved in the search operation, the police said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the vessel, 28 were rescued after the incident, according to the police.
The CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat, though the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far, they said.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the incident and dismissed three crew members. It also banned the operation of similar vessels in the state.
