Saturday marked the fourth day of meagre price reduction after prices were raised daily since 14 May following a hold during the Karnataka assembly election campaign. Automobile fuel prices have become a political issue with the Left-front government in Kerala cutting prices by Re1 per litre from Friday and challenging the centre to follow suit.

Diesel and petrol prices in Delhi on Saturday were Rs69.11 per litre and Rs78.20 per litre respectively at IOC outlets.

IOC also raised the prices of subsidised and non-subsidised domestic cooking gas cylinders by Rs2.34 and Rs48, respectively on Friday.

With fuel prices reaching a record high in India, there has been a demand for an excise duty cut on petrol and diesel. The Narendra Modi government has so far refused to roll back its decision to link domestic and international fuel prices and said that it was working toward a “long-term solution”.

Three state-run firms—IOC, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL)—refrained from increasing prices since 24 April during the Karnataka election campaign. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has maintained that it has no role in pricing and it is for the oil marketing companies to decide upon the same.

There has been a rally in crude oil prices. The cost of the Indian basket of crude, which averaged $47.56 and $56.43 per barrel in FY17 and FY18, respectively, rose to an average of $69.30 in April 2018, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The average price was $75.31 a barrel in May. According to PPAC, the price was $75.73 a barrel on 31 May.

The Indian basket represents the average of Oman, Dubai and Brent crude. Retail prices of petrol and diesel in India track the global prices of these auto fuels, not crude, although they are broadly linked to crude oil price trends, which have firmed up.