No respite from soaring fuel prices

Fuel prices have yet again witnessed a hike on Saturday, with petrol and diesel breaching earlier figures to touch new record highs.

In New Delhi, petrol is being sold 35 paise higher at Rs 81.63 per litre, while the price of diesel has been hiked by 24 paise to Rs 73.54 per litre.

Mumbai continues to be the worst affected by rising fuel prices, with petrol retailing at a staggering Rs 89.01 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.07 per litre.

The union government has been facing flak in the past few weeks for not implementing stringent measures to curb prices.

Earlier this week, the Congress Party and 21 other regional and national parties observed a 'Bharat Bandh' on account of the consistent rise in fuel prices and urged the government to take necessary steps to reduce citizens' woes.

However, the Centre has maintained that external factors, including a rise in international crude oil prices, are influencing domestic fuel prices.