Fuel on fire: Petrol, diesel prices at record-high as rupee plunges against dollar

Oil prices continued to soar on Monday to touch a record high. The surge is mainly caused by a dramatic fall in rupee against US dollar and a sharp rise in crude oil prices. The rupee has nosedived to a new life-time low of 71.10, shedding 10 paise against the US dollar in late afternoon trade on Monday. 

Petrol price in Delhi rose by 31 paise to a record Rs 79.15 a litre from Rs 78.84 a day before while diesel climbed by 39 paise to a fresh high of Rs 71.15 from the previous price of Rs 70.76, shows India Oil data. 

A litre of petrol in Mumbai costs Rs 86.56 on Monday, while a litre of diesel now costs Rs 75.54 per litre in the financial capital.

Since August 16, petrol and diesel prices have risen by over Rs 2 per litre. 

Officials said to PTI that the spike in rates is on account of exchange rate falling to a record Rs 71 to a dollar, depreciating by Rs 2.5 in a month.

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Crude oil prices have also gained by $7 a barrel in a fortnight, driven by fears that the US sanctions on Iran will likely contract supplies.

The appreciation of the dollar against rupee has also pushed up rates for compressed natural gas (CNG) as well as piped natural gas (PNG) since the price of gas procured by city distributors is mostly dollar-denominated.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd has also raised the prices of CNG by 63 paise per kg and by Rs 1.11 per standard cubic meter for piped natural gas supplied to households for cooking purposes.

CNG now costs Rs 42.60 per kg in Delhi and Rs 49.30 per kg in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. The consumer price of PNG to the households in Delhi has been increased to Rs 28.25 per scm, while same in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad would be Rs 30.10 per scm, which has been increased by Rs 1.26 per scm.