Petrol and Diesel Price Hike: After six days of consecutive hikes, rising fuel prices come to a halt

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government will reduce the state tax on petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre.

It was on Wednesday last week (September 5) that petrol and diesel prices did not see a hike after a back to back increase since August 26. From September 6 onwards, fuel prices continued with the upward run on a daily basis and again it's on Wednesday today that Petrol and diesel prices have come to a halt after six days of a continuous hike.

Petrol costs Rs 80.87/litre in Delhi and Rs 88.26/litre in Mumbai, Rs 88.26/litre in Kolkata and Rs 84.05/litre in Chennai.

Similarly, diesel remains at Rs 72.97/litre in Delhi, Rs 75.82/litre in Kolkata, Rs 77.47/litre in Mumbai and Rs 77.13/ litre in Chennai as September 12.

Petrol prices on Tuesday had touched Rs 90.11 per litre in Maharashtra's Parbhani. Diesel prices had also increased from Rs 77.92 on Monday to Rs 78.06 on Tuesday.

At least 20 Opposition parties led by Congress staged a Bharat Bandh across the country on Monday to protest against the rising fuel prices and falling value of the rupee.

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Opposition parties like the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS), led by the Congress party, took part in the protests. Left parties staged a separate shutdown of their own.

Other parties such as Trinamool Congress, Aam Admi Party and Biju Janata Dal voiced their concerns over the price hike, however, they stayed away from the street protests called by the Congress.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan government announced a 4 per cent cut in the state VAT on petrol and diesel on Sunday to reduce their prices by Rs 2.5 per litre in the state, while Andhra Pradesh government on Monday announced a reduction of tax on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 a litre, to reduce the burden on common caused by zooming fuel prices. Similarly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that her government will reduce the state tax on petrol and diesel by Re 1 per litre.

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