Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday neared record levels across the country after rates were hiked by 25 paise and 30 paise a litre respectively. According to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers, the price of petrol is Rs. 101.64 a litre in Delhi and Rs. 107.71 per litre in Mumbai. Diesel rates increased to Rs. 89.87 a litre in Delhi and Rs. 97.52 in Mumbai.
Since the ending of a 3-week-long rate revision, the petrol prices increased twice while price of diesel increased for the fifth time. This spurt in global rates led state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) to resume daily price revisions on September 24th, ending the pause in rates that came into effect from September 5th.
Earlier on Sunday, global benchmark Brent crude rose over $80 a barrel. When international oil rates fell in July and August, retail prices of petrol and diesel in the Delhi market were reduced by Rs 0.65 and Rs 1.25 per litre. India is dependent on imports to meet nearly 85 per cent of its oil needs and so benchmarks local fuel rates to international oil prices.