Petrol and diesel prices rise again after 2-day lull

Petrol and diesel prices have risen again after remaining stable for two days that had followed their steady historic upward climb.

On Tuesday, the retail prices of petrol and diesel rose by ₹0.35 each to reach ₹90.94 and ₹81.32, respectively. Petrol and diesel prices rose by similar amounts in Mumbai to reach ₹97.34 and ₹88.44, respectively.

The oil marketing companies have been raising petrol and diesel prices almost on a daily basis throughout this year. “The current high price of petrol and diesel can be ascribed to the high taxes levied by the government, coupled with an increase in crude oil price,” CARE Ratings said in a note.

As a result of the sky-high prices, despite demand for the essential fuel being relatively inelastic, their consumption fell in January, the latest month for which figures have been released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.

The January decline in consumption has bucked the trend of rising demand that was being viewed as a sign of India’s economic recovery. This is the first time since the initial shock of the coronavirus lockdown in April last year that the consumption of three essential fuels — petrol, diesel, and LPG — has fallen together on a month-on-month basis.

At 6.804 million tonnes, the consumption of diesel fell 5 per cent on a month-on-month basis in January. Similarly, at 2.61 million tonnes, the consumption of petrol declined 4 per cent. LPG also registered a 2 per cent drop in consumption, with demand at 2.492 million tonnes.

Before January, petrol consumption had been steadily recovering since August last year, while diesel consumption had been on an upward climb since September last year.

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