Delhi: Diesel price touches an all-time high, Petrol highest in 4 Years

Petrol in Delhi has now been priced at Rs 73.73 per litre. Earlier, on September 14, 2014, the price of petrol had reached as high as Rs 76.06 per litre.

Petrol and diesel prices hiked in Delhi.

New Delhi: The price of petrol in Delhi has escalated to Rs 73.73 per litre, which is the highest in four-years. At the same time, diesel has been priced at Rs 64.58 per litre, which is its highest ever. The pressure on the government to cut excise duty once again has started mounting. Public sector petroleum firms that have been revising fuel prices on a daily basis since June last year, raised petrol and diesel rates by 18 paise per litre each in Delhi, according to a price notification. Previously, on September 14, 2014, the price of petrol was at its highest of Rs 76.06 per liter. Earlier, on February 7, 2018, diesel tossed as high as Rs 64.22 per liter. Petroleum Ministry had demanded slashing of excise duty on petrol and diesel in the wake of the rising international crude prices, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ignored this demand in the budget presented on Februray 1. The retail price of petrol and diesel is highest in India among the South Asian countries. Taxes constitute half of the price we pay for fuel at petrol pumps. Between November 2014 and January 2016, Finance Minister Jaitley increased the excise duty nine times, despite the globally declining oil prices. Only once in October 2017 it was slashed by two rupees. Petrol in Delhi then, was priced at Rs 70.88 a liter and diesel was priced at Rs 59.14 a liter. After the excise duty cut, on October 4, 2017, diesel was priced at Rs 56.89 per liter and petrol was at Rs 68.38 per liter. However, after the increase in prices globally, the petrol and diesel prices have escalated in India.