Fuel prices hiked for 4th straight day; petrol crosses Rs 120 mark in MP

Petrol and diesel prices on Sunday were hiked for the fourth straight day by 35 paise per litre each, pushing pump rates to new record high across the country with states with high incidence of local taxes such as Madhya Pradesh having the costliest fuel.

The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 109.34 a litre and Rs 115.15 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

Diesel now costs Rs 98.07 a litre in Delhi and Rs 106.23 in Mumbai.

This is the fourth consecutive day of the price hike. There was no change in rates between October 25 and 27, prior to which prices were hiked by 35 paise per litre each on four straight days.

While petrol has already hit the Rs 100-a-litre mark or more in all major cities of the country, diesel has touched that level in over one-and-a-half dozen states. Diesel rates crossed that level in places ranging from Jalandhar in Punjab to Gangtok in Sikkim.

Prices differ from state to state, depending on the incidence of local taxes and cost of transportation.

The twin factors led to petrol price crossing Rs 120 a litre mark in places such as Panna, Satna, Rewa, Shahdol, Chhindwara and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh.

The same level has also been crossed in two border towns of Rajasthan - Ganganagar and Hanumangarh.

Ganganagar has the costliest fuel in the country with petrol costing Rs 121.52 a litre and diesel coming for Rs 112.44 per litre.

Petrol price has been hiked on 25 occasions since September 28, when a three-week-long hiatus in rate revision ended. In all, prices have gone up by Rs 8.15 a litre.

Diesel rates have been increased by Rs 9.45 per litre in 28 hikes since September 24.

Prior to that, the petrol price was increased by Rs 11.44 a litre between May 4 and July 17. The diesel rate had gone up by Rs 9.14 per litre during this period.