In pics: All you need to know about historic hike in diesel, petrol prices

Diesel price on Thursday surpassed the Rs 80-a-litre mark for the first time in Delhi, selling at Rs 80.02 a litre. Petrol price has also zoomed by 32 paise to Rs 79.92 a litre

1 / 4

Diesel price on Thursday surpassed the Rs 80-a-litre mark for the first time in Delhi, selling at Rs 80.02 a litre, up 14 paise over the Wednesday price. Petrol price went up by 32 paise to Rs 79.92 a litre on Thursday. This was for the 19-day in a row that fuel prices were hiked by oil marketing companies in India. City-wise, in Mumbai, petrol price touched Rs 86.70 a litre and diesel was retailing at Rs 78.34 a litre, whereas in Kolkata, prices were seen at Rs 81.61 a litre and Rs 75.18 a litre respectively.

2 / 4

Increase in value-added tax (VAT) on diesel resulted in rates going up by Rs 1.67 per litre for petrol and by a record Rs 7.10 for diesel on a single day. Besides, on March 14, excise duty on both petrol and diesel were increased by Rs 3 a litre. Later, on May 5, the Centre again raised the duty by Rs 10 a litre on petrol and Rs 13 a litre on diesel, the steepest duty hike in the history of the fuel. ALSO READ: Diesel crosses Rs 80-mark in Delhi for first time; petrol up by 16 paise

3 / 4

Congress leader Digvijay Singh in Bhopal was seen marching towards the Chief Minister's residence as a mark of protest against diesel price hike issue. Whereas in the national capital, Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress (DPYC) Incharge Bhaiya Pawar said, "During the sowing season, farmers will be needing the diesel in their farms. They are already burdened but this surge in price is going to pressurize them more." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took a swipe at the Modi government over the increase in fuel prices and the mounting Covid-19 cases in the country, saying it has "unlocked" the coronavirus pandemic and petrol-diesel prices. ALSO READ: Political leaders, people react to rising price of petrol, diesel across India

4 / 4

Sanjiv Singh, chairman of Indian Oil Corporation, had blamed higher VAT for the rising diesel prices in Delhi. Besides, Singh had clarified that around 70 per cent of the fuel prices comes in the form of taxes and the company only deals with 30 per cent base price, that is benchmarked to the international product prices.