Petrol costlier across metros; climbs to Rs 81.68/l in Delhi

Petrol prices rose across the four metro cities on Saturday, just a day after the BJP-led Central government reduced excise duty on the transportation fuel.

In the national capital, petrol was priced at Rs 81.68 per litre, up from Rs 81.50 on Friday, data on the IndianOil Corp website showed.

Similarly, petrol prices in the other metro cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai also rose on Saturday.

As per the data, the fuel was priced at Rs 87.15 in Mumbai, Rs 83.52 in Kolkata and Rs 84.89 per litre in Chennai.

The prices vary from region to region due to local taxes, as the product is excluded from the GST regime. Delhi has the lowest tax rate among the four metro cities.

The increase in transport fuel rates comes amid a continuous surge in crude oil prices. On Friday, the Brent crude was priced at over $84 per barrel.

On Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a cut in excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre. Additionally, the state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been mandated to reduce prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 a litre.

In tandem with petrol, the cost of diesel rose on Saturday except in Mumbai, where it eased by Rs 1.70.

On Saturday, the diesel price in Mumbai was at Rs 76.75 from its previous price of 77.45 on Friday.

Prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai rose to Rs 73.24, Rs 75.09 and Rs 77.42 a litre from the Friday's Rs 72.95, Rs 74.80 and Rs 77.11, respectively.

--IANS

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