Fuel prices remain unchanged for 3 days after a constant hike

The government has been slammed by civil society groups and the opposition over the hike in fuel and gas prices.

There was some (more) relief today for Indians battered by a relentless daily increase in petrol and diesel prices, with both unchanged Saturday for a third consecutive day. This comes after 14 daily increases in 15 days; they were last hiked on Wednesday by 80 paise per litre, taking total price increase in 16 days ₹10 per litre.

Fuel prices remain unchanged for 3 days after a constant hike (HT File)

In Delhi, the price of petrol and diesel remains ₹105.41 per litre and ₹96.67 per litre respectively. Mumbai is selling petrol at ₹120.51 per litre and diesel at ₹104.77 per litre. Petrol and diesel in Kolkata stand at ₹115.12 per litre and ₹99.83 per litre respectively.

Chennai is selling petrol at ₹110.85 per litre and diesel is being sold at ₹100.94 per litre. Meanwhile, petrol in Srinagar costs ₹122.93 a litre and diesel ₹105.34 a litre. In Bhopal, a litre of petrol costs ₹118.14 a litre of diesel costs ₹101.16 a litre.

The government has been slammed by civil society groups and the opposition over the hike in fuel and gas prices. Congress leaders accused the BJP-led government of 'tax-gouging' and 'profiteering', while other opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena and the Trinamool Congress, attacked the government for 'filling their coffers' at the expense of the common man.

On Tuesday, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Lok Sabha the hike in petrol prices is linked to the surge in international prices caused by the Ukraine war. "We are not the only country impacted by the war," news agency ANI quoted Puri. "The surge in fuel prices in India is 1/10th of the price hike in other countries. The prices in the US, UK, France, Germany and Spain have increased by 51 per cent, but in India, the hike is merely 5 per cent,” he had said.

Prior to this, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman too had asserted that the fuel prices had shot up several times in the international market due to the outbreak of a war. She had said that the hike in fuel prices was “unavoidable”.