Mumbai petrol price up for 15th day in a row to Rs 86.08/l; crude oil down

In line with petrol, the price of diesel also increased -- to Rs 69.17 a litre in Delhi, and Rs 73.64 in Mumbai

Retail fuel prices in India continue to burn a hole in pockets, with the cost of petrol increasing for a 15th consecutive day on Monday to touch a new high of Rs 78.27 a litre in Delhi, up from Rs 78.12 per litre a day before. This, incidentally, happened on a day when the global crude oil price showed a decrease. On Monday, petrol prices in Mumbai stood at Rs 86.08 a litre, in Kolkata Rs 80.76 and in Chennai Rs 81.11. In line with petrol, diesel prices also increased -- to Rs 69.17 per litre in Delhi and Rs 73.64 per litre in Mumbai.   

Following the Karnataka polls and the 19-day fuel price freeze from April 24, oil marketing companies opted for a price rise for petrol and diesel. On May 15, the price of petrol was increased by 17 paise a litre and that of diesel by 21 paise a litre in Delhi. The petrol price was seen at Rs 74.80 per litre, the highest since September 2013, and diesel was seen at Rs 66.14 per litre.  

Amid the rise in fuel prices, crude oil futures fell 2.73 per cent to Rs 4,485 per barrel on Monday, in line with the weak trend overseas as the market eyed an increase in output from top crude producers -- Russia, the US, and Saudi Arabia.  

The brent crude futures were at $75.34 per barrel, down $1.10, or 1.4 percent, from their last close.   

Hope on the horizon 

The government said it is likely to levy a 'windfall tax', in the form of a cess, on companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) for any revenue that they earn from prices crossing $70 a barrel.  

Subsequently, the revenue collected will be used to pay retail majors like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) to absorb the fuel price hike. 

As the Centre has come under fire over the fuel price hike, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan earlier assured the public that the government will soon come out with a solution to tackle the situation. 

"Goods and service tax (GST) is one way being looked into to ease the situation. Besides, many other options are being explored for both short- and long-term solutions," said Pradhan. 

He also argued that several reasons were responsible for the hike in prices of petrol and diesel, including the political conditions in oil producing countries and the international market.

"Some of them include fluctuations in international market and depreciation of Indian rupees against the US dollars. The Centre is working out a plan to control the increase in fuel prices," he added.

He also said that the weakening of the Indian rupee against the US dollar was causing the fuel price hike.  

                                                                                                                                                                       With agency inputs