Petrol prices hiked to new record today; rates set to hit Rs 86 in Mumbai

On petrol prices, what we are experiencing has never been witnessed before in India, as rates have reached historic heights. And what is more, state-owned Oil Companies are continuing to boldly raise rates of this product. Well, it's bad news for the end consumers as they are going to have to bear a heavier load in days to come. Today, the OMCs have raised petrol prices in the range of 13 paise to 15 paise per litre each in various state capitals. Guess what! Looking at the new trend, you might soon start paying Rs 86 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 78 per litre in New Delhi and the city Kolkata and Chennai is also not far away may soon join the Rs 81 per litre club. 

Even as Brent crude oil has shot up to near $80 per barrel level, the government has ruled out the possibility to ease excise duty. Also, many states are reluctant to reduce the Value Added Tax and the rupee has been hovering near 68-mark against US benchmark dollar index.

Today the petrol price of New Delhi has touched a new high of Rs 77.97 per litre higher by 14 basis points compared to previous day price of Rs 77.83 per litre.

Going ahead India’s financial hub Mumbai has witnessed a situation where petrol price has hit Rs 85.78 per litre today, which is also up 13 paise against previous day price of Rs 85.65 per litre. This city has the most expensive petrol price, and soon you may begin paying Rs 86 per litre. 

Furthermore, Chennai saw the most hike in it’s prices, as the city earmarked first time Rs 80.95  per litre on Saturday, above 15 paisa compared to previous price of Rs 80.80 per litre.

Now in Kolkata, the price was raised by 14 paisa to Rs 80.61 per litre as against Rs 80.47 per litre of previous day. This city’s price is nearly five-year high as last time it stood at this level in December 2013. 

The bold rise in petrol price in India continued today, despite international crude oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel on Friday as Saudi Arabia and Russia discussed easing production cuts that have helped push crude prices to their highest since 2014.

Therefore, Brent crude futures slipped $2.35, or 3%, to end at $76.44 a barrel. The global benchmark lost about 2.7% this week, its largest weekly drop since early April. The contract hit its highest since late 2014 at $80.50 last week. 

At the same time, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude plunged by $2.83, or 4%, to settle at $67.88 a barrel. This week, WTI tumbled about 4.9%, its biggest loss since early February, a sharp course reversal after six weeks of gains.

Following the above factors, from May 14 to till today, petrol prices have rose by Rs 3.30 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 3.29 per litre in Kolkata, whereas New Delhi had slightly higher hike by Rs 3.34 per litre and Chennai the most by Rs 3.52 per litre.