The woes of consumers dealing with record high fuel prices continued as state-run oil marketers increased petrol and diesel prices for 15 days in a row, despite a decline in crude oil rates.
The price of petrol was hiked by 15 paise on Monday, 28 May to Rs 86.08 a litre in Mumbai, while diesel was raised by 11 paise to Rs 73.64 a litre, according to data released by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Petrol and diesel are costlier by Rs 3.43 a litre and Rs 3.21 a litre, respectively, since 14 May, when oil marketing companies resumed daily price revisions after a 19-day freeze in the run-up to the Karnataka elections.
Crude Cools
The rally in oil prices that took Brent crude to the $80 mark for the first time since 2014 stalled last week after Saudi Arabia and Russia proposed easing output curbs after eliminating an inventory surplus that had sparked the biggest price crash in a generation.
Brent crude fell for the third straight session and traded two percent lower at $74.91 per barrel on 28 May, as of 8.40 am.
Government Mulls Policy For Long-Term Solution
The central and state governments are working with oil marketers to formulate a policy to curb fuel price rise, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in a press conference on Friday.
The policy will aim for the long-term stability of petrol and diesel prices to ease consumer burden, said Goyal.
The Goods and Services Tax Council is expected to discuss bringing petrol and diesel under the indirect tax regime in its next meeting, he added.
(This article was first published on BloombergQuint)
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