Petrol Prices Hit New High; Breaches Rs. 91 Mark In 12 Maharashtra Cities

Petrol price continued its upward spiral in the megapolis where the fuel is the costliest among the major metros--with Monday's retail price pegged at Rs. 89.44 a liter, up from Rs. 89.29 on Sunday, and diesel selling at Rs. 78.33, up 17 paise.

Maharashtra has the highest fuel cost among all the states as it charges the highest VAT on the petrol and diesel at a little over 39 per cent, including the Rs. 9 surcharge on petrol and Re 1 on diesel.

While the state charges 25 per cent value-added tax on petrol in Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai, it charges 26 percent in the rest of the state. For diesel, VAT is 21 per cent in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, and 22 per cent rest of the state, with a surcharge of Rs. 1 a litre across the state.

Petrol and diesel prices in Mumbai have gone up by Rs. 2.50 and Rs. 3.92 a litre, respectively, since August 31.

Meanwhile, in as many a dozen cities in the state, petrol is already is selling between Rs. 90 and Rs. 91 a liter, with the price in Parbani at Rs. 91.27 a litre, while diesel costs Rs. 79.15 being the highest across the country, which dealers said is due to the fact that the city gets the fuel from the Solapur depot, which is about 275 km away.

When contacted an Indian Oil spokesman said prices in some cities are higher than those in Mumbai due to higher transportation cost to those areas.

In cities like Parbhani, Nandurbar, Nanded, Latur, Jalgaon, Beed, Aurangabad, and Ratnagiri among others, petrol has crossed the Rs. 90-mark on Sunday, according to media reports.

It can be noted that fuel retail prices have been going up as the crude prices have been rising on one hand and the rupee has been plummeting on a daily basis.

The rupee lost 67 paise to close at Rs. 72.51 against the dollar Monday after two days of gains. Since the beginning of the year, the rupee lost over 13 per cent against the greenback. Crude has gained over 35 per cent year-to-date.

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