Fuel prices increase for 15th time in Oct; in a 1st, petrol costs over Rs 107 in city

Kolkata: For the first time ever, the petrol price in Kolkata has crossed the Rs 107 mark on Thursday.

The petrol and diesel prices increased by 33 paise and 35 paisa on Thursday taking its price to Rs 107.11 a litre and Rs 98.38 a litre respectively.

This is the 15th time in the month of October when the fuel price has increased. For the first time, petrol had touched the Rs 100 mark on July 6. At the beginning of October, the prices of petrol and diesel went up to Rs 102.47 a litre and Rs 93.27 a litre. In the past 21 days, the petrol and diesel prices have gone up by Rs 4.46 a litre and Rs 5.11 a litre respectively.

The prices of essential goods have skyrocketed with the abnormal hike in fuel prices. The task force of the state government has initiated visiting different parks to check hoarding of essential items, vegetables and potatoes considering that the prices of the same would further go up if hoarding takes place in such a situation.

Meanwhile, the price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 106.54 a litre and Rs 112.44 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

In Mumbai, diesel now comes for Rs 103.26 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs Rs 95.27 per litre.

This is the second consecutive day of the price hike. There was no change in rates on October 18 and 19, prior to which prices were hiked by 35 paise per litre each on four straight days.

While petrol has already hit the Rs 100-a-litre mark or more in all major cities of the country, diesel has touched that level in over a dozen states and is treading towards that mark in places from Srinagar to Chennai.

Diesel costs Rs 99.14 a litre in Srinagar while it is priced at Rs 99.59 in Chennai.

The costliest fuel was in the border town of Ganganagar in Rajasthan, where petrol comes for Rs 118.59 a litre and diesel for Rs 109.41 per litre.