Petrol crosses Rs 80 mark in 20th hike, diesel jumps to Rs 80.19 a litre

Petrol prices on Friday crossed the Rs-80 mark in Delhi as fuel compnaies announced the 20th hike in a row. Petrol price was increased by 21 paise to Rs 80.13 per litre in Delhi. Diesel jumped by 17 paise to Rs 80.19 per litre.

In Mumbai, the price of petrol touched Rs 86.91 a litre and diesel went up to Rs 78.51 a litre. In Kolkata, the prices were at Rs 81.82 a litre and Rs 75.34 a litre, respectively.

During the time of lockdown, oil marketing companies did not revise the prices for 83 days in a row and started revising it upward only from June 8 onwards.

A major reason for diesel costing more than petrol in Delhi was an increase in value-added tax (VAT) levied on diesel by the state government in May 2020. The state had increased the VAT on diesel from 16.75 per cent to 30 per cent and on diesel from 27 per cent to 30 per cent. This hike in VAT resulted in rates going up by Rs 1.67 per litre for petrol and a record Rs 7.10 for diesel on a single day.

Meanwhile, Congress intensified its attack on the Centre over the continuous fuel price hike with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying that saying it has become clear that the Centre is only interested in picking pockets of the people even in times of crisis.

"By increasing the prices of petrol and diesel for the 19th consecutive day today, the BJP government has made it clear that it is more interested in picking pockets of the public even in the time of such a crisis," Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet.

"The Congress has carried out a massive protest in Uttar Pradesh. People are not ready to tolerate this loot," the Congress general secretary in-charge eastern Uttar Pradesh tweeted.