New Delhi: People getting no respite from the steep rising prices of fuel in India as the petroleum company continues to increase the petrol and diesel prices almost on daily bases for the last fortnight.

The companies against hiked petrol and diesel prices by 80 paise a litre.

With this, the total hike has reached Rs. 10 for each litre of petrol in the country in the last 16 days.

Following the further hike, petrol in Delhi will now cost ₹ 105.41 per litre as against 104.61 yesterday, while diesel rates have gone up from ₹ 95.87 per litre to 96.677, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers.

In the commercial capital-Mumbai, petrol will be retailed at ₹ 120.51 per litre, while diesel is priced at ₹ 104.77 per litre.

Despite facing criticism from various quarters for the government allowing the petroleum companies to hike prices without any break, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has defended fuel price hikes.

He claimed that compared to other countries, he said that India has merely seen a change of "only 5 per cent".

"Fuel prices hiked in India are 1/10th of the change of prices in other countries. Comparing gasoline (petrol) prices between April 2021 and March 2022, the prices in the United States of America (USA) have increased by 51 per cent, Canada by 52 per cent, Germany by 55 per cent, the United Kingdom (UK) by 55 per cent, France by 50 per cent, Spain 58 per cent but in India only 5 per cent," Puri said.

Following the hike, the prices of fuel went high in all parts of the country, however, the prices vary from state to state depending upon the incidence of local taxation.
This is the 14th increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.

With the prices continuing to go high, there is no sign of companies stopping the increase, let alone bringing down the prices to give relief to common people.