Petrol and diesel prices increased on July 5 across the country for second straight day. The auto fuel prices have touched record high levels on Monday, with petrol and diesel becoming costly by 35 paise and 36 paise respectively.
Today, a litre of petrol in the national capital is being retailed at Rs 99.86 and diesel Rs 89.36, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer.
In Mumbai, a litre of petrol and diesel will cost Rs 105.92 and Rs 96.91. Currently, fuel prices are highest in Mumbai among all metro cities.
After today’s rise, it added up to Rs 9.17 for petrol and Rs 9.48 for diesel. This is the 35th price hike since May 4 when fuel rates started increasing after West Bengal elections. This is also, the 3rd hike of the month. The prices were hiked 16 times in June.
Petrol prices have already crossed the Rs 100-mark in eleven states and union territories – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Manipur, Ladakh and some cities of Bihar and Punjab. Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan has the costliest petrol and diesel in the country with Rs 111.34 per litre and Rs 102.97 a litre. Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Banswara, Ratnagiri, Parbhani and Aurangabad are also few cities selling auto fuel above Rs 100 mark.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. Central and state taxes make up for 60% of the retail selling price of petrol and over 54% of diesel. The union government levies Rs 32.90 per litre of excise duty on petrol. Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh.