Petrol price at two-year high of ₹83.71/litre, diesel at ₹73.87/ litre

The retail price of petrol and diesel stood at a two-year high on the back of a recovery in international crude oil price. Petrol sold at ₹83.71 a litre in the national capital on Monday after rising in sustained hikes over the last two weeks. Diesel retailed at ₹73.87 a litre.

Over the last fortnight, the price of petrol has risen by ₹2.37 a litre and diesel by ₹3.12 a litre by oil marketing companies.

Brent crude

On Monday alone, petrol price rose by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 26 paise. The hikes are in tandem with increasing crude oil prices in the international market. The price of Brent crude, a commonly accepted benchmark, has been up by $10 a barrel in November alone. In the first week of December, the price of crude oil rose $2 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data. The rise in prices is due to the optimism that a successful Covid-19 vaccine administration programme will help bring back economic growth.

Petrol and diesel prices in the country are determined every day and are linked to international prices. The price revisions are generally done with a lag of 15 days. But oil companies also hold back price revisions if they feel the international prices do not reflect their assessment of market fundamentals.

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Excise duty

The retail auto fuel prices comprise a significant portion of both State and Central government taxes. The excise duty collected on petrol by the Centre stood at ₹32.98 a litre while on diesel it was ₹31.83 a litre. In Delhi, the State government collects Value Added Tax on auto fuels. It rakes in ₹10.64 a litre on diesel and ₹19 a litre on petrol. The opposition had demanded a roll back of excise duty hikes to give relief to consumers.

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