New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices have remained unchanged for 68 days in a row despite a $16 swing in international oil prices and global rates again climbing to $84 per barrel, oil company data showed.
Petrol and diesel were last changed on November 4, 2021, when the central government cut excise duty to give relief from rates that had touched an all-time high.
This is the longest duration of no-change in prices since the daily price revision was introduced in June 2017, the data showed.
Prior to that, there was an 82-day hiatus in rate revision between March 17, 2020, and June 6, 2020.
On November 4, 2021, excise duty on diesel was cut by Rs 10 a litre and that on petrol by Rs 5 per litre, resulting in an equivalent reduction in retail pump rates.
On that day, some states, mostly ruled by the BJP, cut local sales tax or VAT to give larger relief to consumers. Other states like Punjab and Delhi followed suit at later dates but the base price of petrol and diesel has remained unchanged since November 4, 2021.
Petrol costs Rs 95.41 a litre in Delhi and diesel is priced at Rs 86.67, price information from state fuel retailers showed.
The rates have remained unchanged despite a wild swing in international oil prices. Brent crude oil, the best-known international benchmark, was at $82.74 per barrel on November 5, 2021, before it started to fall and touch $68.87 a barrel on December 1.
Rates started to rise thereafter and on Wednesday soared to $83.82 per barrel, not very low from the peak of $86.40 touched on October 26, 2021, which had led to petrol and diesel prices spiking to an all-time high.
International oil has roared higher as concerns about the pandemic, especially the impact of the omicron variant, have eased off.
Before the excise duty cut, petrol and diesel prices had touched an all-time high across the country. While petrol had crossed the Rs 100 a litre mark in most cities, diesel was above that level in nearly half the country.
In Delhi, petrol came for Rs 110.04 a litre and diesel for Rs 98.42.
"The government faced a lot of criticism because of the rising pricing then. In weeks and months leading to record rates, it resisted cutting taxes but had to do that once BJP faced electoral reversals in by-elections in some states," a senior oil company executive said on condition of anonymity.
And, with Assembly elections to five states including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab round the corner, it does not want to give opposition parties any ammunition and so rates are not being aligned with the cost, he said.
"Of course, there are other factors that are dictating retail pricing. It is for anyone to guess what they are," another oil company official said. No official from the three state-owned oil marketing companies was willing to speak on the record on fuel pricing.