NEW DELHI: State-run fuel retailers on Saturday raised petrol and diesel prices by 80 paise per litre, marking the 10th increase in 12 days in which the fuels have become costlier by Rs 7.50.
Analysts expect petrol and diesel prices to go up by another Rs 12 per litre or so and LPG, or household cooking gas supplied in cylinders, to rise by about Rs 280, which will squeeze household budgets and create inflationary pressure.
Domestic LPG price was raised by Rs 50 per cylinder about 11 days back. From Friday, the price of natural gas produced from domestic fields more than doubled to $6 per unit as per the Centre’s 2014 pricing formula, the highest ever. This prompted Indraprastha Gas Ltd to raise PNG (piped natural gas) prices by Rs 5 per unit in Delhi and Rs 5.85 in Ghaziabad and Noida. CNG prices were also raised by Re 1 per unit.
The government-owned fuel retailers had frozen the prices since November 4 ahead of the polls in five states even though India’s crude cost rose from about $84 per barrel to more than $100. They started revising the prices from March 22, less than a fortnight after the poll results were announced.
The government has blamed the rising pump prices on a spike in global oil and gas prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. International oil prices had spiked to $139 a barrel on March 7 but eased to $104 on Friday on record release of oil from strategic reserves by the US and other developed economies.
Analysts expect petrol and diesel prices to go up by another Rs 12 per litre or so and LPG, or household cooking gas supplied in cylinders, to rise by about Rs 280, which will squeeze household budgets and create inflationary pressure.
Domestic LPG price was raised by Rs 50 per cylinder about 11 days back. From Friday, the price of natural gas produced from domestic fields more than doubled to $6 per unit as per the Centre’s 2014 pricing formula, the highest ever. This prompted Indraprastha Gas Ltd to raise PNG (piped natural gas) prices by Rs 5 per unit in Delhi and Rs 5.85 in Ghaziabad and Noida. CNG prices were also raised by Re 1 per unit.
The government-owned fuel retailers had frozen the prices since November 4 ahead of the polls in five states even though India’s crude cost rose from about $84 per barrel to more than $100. They started revising the prices from March 22, less than a fortnight after the poll results were announced.
The government has blamed the rising pump prices on a spike in global oil and gas prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. International oil prices had spiked to $139 a barrel on March 7 but eased to $104 on Friday on record release of oil from strategic reserves by the US and other developed economies.