Petrol-diesel price differential in India: how it stacks up over 5 years

A month after fuel prices were last revised in India, oil marketing companies (OMCs) announced their latest price updates on June 15. While petrol has become dearer by 64 paise, diesel has become cheaper by Rs 1.35 a litre, both changes reflecting the changes in international prices of the fuels and also the Indian rupee and US dollar exchange rate.

Effective June 16, the price of petrol per litre stands Rs 66.93 in Delhi, Rs 74.42 in Kolkata, Rs 74.78 in Mumbai and Rs 70.10 in Chennai. Diesel fuel now costs Rs 50.93 in Delhi, Rs 55.45 in Kolkata, Rs 58.37 in Mumbai and Rs 54.29 in Chennai. The price differential between the two fuels currently, in Mumbai, is Rs 16.41 per litre.

Price data: IndianOil Corporation 

While petrol prices were decontrolled on June 25, 2010, diesel prices were more recently decontrolled on October 18, 2014. Since then, petrol prices have changed 72 times and diesel 13 times respectively.

A detailed look at the fuel price table (Mumbai prices) over the past five years shows that the differential between petrol and diesel was the highest on May 24, 2012 at Rs 34.62 a litre, and the lowest at Rs 9.15 a litre on August 31, 2014.