Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fourth straight day on Saturday. Fuel rates in India now touch an all-time high across the country with a 35 paise a litre hike.

Petrol and diesel in Delhi is now priced at Rs 107.24 per litre and Rs 95.97 per litre respectively today. In Mumbai, petrol and diesel will cost you Rs 113.12 and Rs 104.00. In Kolkata, it is Rs 107.78 and Rs 99.08 respectively while in Chennai it will be Rs 104.22 and Rs 100.25 a litre.

Petrol has already hit the Rs 100-a-litre mark or more in all major cities of the country, diesel has touched that level in over a dozen states. India has never before seen such steep price hikes. State oil companies have been raising prices almost daily.

The recent fuel price spiral has been led by a jump in the global crude oil rates. Oil prices have risen by $8 in a month to $84 per barrel. Oil has doubled in a year and is up 40% from the same time two years ago.

Domestic petrol prices are up 32% in a year and 46% in two years while diesel prices are up 35% in a year, and 45% in two years.

Fuel consumers’ problems have been compounded by the government’s refusal to roll back additional taxes it imposed after the oil prices collapsed at the beginning of the pandemic last year. Incremental taxes denied consumers the benefit of low oil prices then but kept domestic fuel prices stable. But as international oil prices started recovering with the reopening of the economies, domestic fuel consumers started feeling the pinch.