Petrol price hiked; diesel hits historic peak after Karnataka elections
Petrol to cost Rs 79.29/l, diesel Rs 72.04/l; dealers expect rates to climb further.
Hyderabad: The price of petrol touched a 56-month high in the city while diesel breached the historic mark on Monday after oil marketing companies revised fuel prices after a gap of 19 days. The daily price of fuel had been halted for 19 days ahead of the Karnataka elections.
On Tuesday, petrol will be sold for Rs 79.29 per litre and diesel for Rs 72.04 per litre. On Monday, petrol was sold for Rs 79.13 per litre and diesel Rs 71.80, and dealers expect the prices to climb higher on the back of increased crude oil prices and a weaker rupee.
Fuel prices were last revised on April 24, when the petrol price was increased from Rs 78.09 to Rs 78.95 and diesel from Rs 71.44 to Rs 71.55.
The price of petrol in the city had peaked on May 24, 2013, when it hit Rs 81.44 per litre. It again breached the Rs 80 mark on September 1, 2013, when it hit Rs 80.53 per litre.
The benchmark international diesel rates in the last fortnight climbed from $84.68 per barrel to $88.63. The rupee has weakened to Rs 67 per US dollar from Rs 66.62, making imports costlier.
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan had last month denied reports of a directive to state oil firms to absorb at least Rs 1 a litre hike by not raising prices in line with cost.
The prices at petrol pumps of state-owned fuel retailers like Indian Oil Corp were cut by 1-3 paise every day in the first fortnight of December 2017 before Gujarat went to the polls. They started moving up immediately after polling for assembly elections in Gujarat concluded on December 14, leading to speculation that government may have asked oil companies to hold the prices.