Petrol price touches Rs 81 mark, diesel crosses Rs 73 in Delhi

New Delhi: Petrol price on Thursday touched the Rs 81 per litre mark in Delhi while diesel rates crossed Rs 73 as the potent combination of a depreciating rupee and rising crude oil rates continued to push fuel prices higher.

After a day's lull, the upward march of fuel prices resumed Thursday with petrol price being hiked by 13 paise per litre and diesel by 11 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned oil marketing companies. Petrol price in Delhi climbed to Rs 81 per litre while diesel inched up to an all-time high of Rs 73.08.

Delhi has the cheapest fuel rates among all metros and most state capitals because of lower taxes. Mumbai has the highest sales tax or VAT. In Mumbai, a litre of petrol now costs Rs 88.39 and diesel is priced at Rs 77.58 per litre.

Mumbai has the highest rate of VAT or sales tax in the country. According to oil companies, refinery gate price of petrol, without considering any central or state tax and dealer's commission, is Rs 40.49 per litre.

The same for diesel is Rs 44.32. Retail rates are arrived at after adding excise duty, which is charged by the Central government, commission paid to petrol pumps dealers and VAT, charged by the state governments.

Dealer's commission on petrol currently is Rs 3.34 per litre and that on diesel is Rs 2.52. While crude oil rates flirted with the USD 80 per barrel mark, the rupee has plunged against the dollar.

The combination of the two makes imports costlier. Domestic retail prices are benchmarked to international rates of the fuel. Since mid-August, petrol price has risen by Rs 3.92 a litre and diesel by Rs 4.31.