Petrol prices cross Rs 100 per litre-mark for first time in Gujarat

Petrol prices crossed the Rs 100 per litre-mark for the first time in Gujarat on Thursday following a fresh hike.

Due to a sharp rise of 31 paise, the retail selling price of petrol has gone over Rs 100 in several parts of Gujarat and Ahmedabad city, said Arvind Thakkar, president of the Gujarat Petroleum Dealers Association.

"Similarly, following a fresh hike of 38 paise, the price of diesel went up to Rs 98.90 per litre on Thursday. On an average, petrol was sold at Rs 100.11 per litre in majority of the petrol pumps in Ahmedabad and Gujarat today," he said.

In several parts of Bharuch district in south Gujarat, the price of one litre petrol went over Rs 101 during the day, said Ayub Pathan, owner of a petrol pump in Netrang town of Bharuch district.

The figures suggest that there was a hike of around 85 paise on one litre of petrol during the last three days in Gujarat.

When Kuntal Vyas, a resident of Bopal area in Ahmedabad city, went to fill petrol in his bike, he was surprised to see that the fuel price has crossed the three digit figure for the first time in his life.

"This is for the first time in my life that I am paying in three digits for per litre of petrol. The recent hike in the prices of petroleum products has adversely affected the middle class, which has no option but to use their personal vehicles for commuting," he said.

He rued that Ahmedabad, one of the biggest cities of the state, does not have a proper public transport system.

"The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is useless as it runs on just few roads of the city and doesn't take us to our destination. The work for Metro rail is progressing at a very slow pace and it also has limited coverage," he said.