Petrol And Diesel Prices Rise Rapidly After A Four-month Freeze

In total, the fuel prices have gone up by around Rs 4 per litre in the past week

• Fuel prices were freezed in November due to the upcoming state elections in India. 

• The Russia-Ukraine crisis is one of the main reasons for the soaring fuel prices. 

• Petrol and diesel prices might increase further in the coming days. 

• CNG prices also affected. 

Petrol and diesel prices are on the rise again after seeing a four-month freeze. On Monday (March 28), the petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 30 paise and 35 paise per litre, for the sixth consecutive time since March 22. 

The fuel prices were freezed back in November 2021, due to the upcoming state elections in Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. Since March 22 (till the time the article was published), the prices shot up by around Rs 4 per litre for both the fuel options. 

During the four month freeze, the international fuel prices increased by USD 30 per barrel. The state fuel retailers like HPCL, IOC, and BPCL are passing on the price hike in stages, which suggests that the prices will further increase in the coming days. However, the price hike will vary state-wise, depending on the taxations in the respective state. 

In wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the barrel prices have been soaring up rapidly. India’s oil imports stand at 85 percent, so the fluctuation in the international rates will have an effect here as well. Moreover, media reports suggest that the international fuel barrel prices will further go up. 

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Meanwhile, the CNG prices are also affected by this. In Delhi NCR, the CNG prices went up by Rs 2 in the past two weeks. On the other hand, the Maharashtra government has slashed the VAT on CNG by over 10 percent, which will reduce the prices.