Petrol crosses Rs 88 mark in Mumbai as fuel prices continue to rise

Petrol prices crossed Rs 88 per litre in Mumbai today as fuel prices continued to rise.

Petrol prices were increased by Rs 0.23 per litre in Mumbai, and reached Rs 88.12 per litre. Diesel prices, on the other hand, touched Rs 77.32 per litre — an increase of Rs 0.23 per litre.

The prices of petrol and diesel in other metro cities also went up.

Fuel prices have been hiked almost daily across India over the past few weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's NDA government has drawn severe criticism over the issue of fuel prices; the Opposition called for a nationwide strike today to protest the rising



prices.

Last week, the Congress called for a Bharat Bandh to protest the rising fuel prices.

Twenty other political parties, including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), lent their support to the Congress's call for a Bharat Bandh.

Left parties have issued a separate but similar call for a nationwide protest.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier blamed international factors for the hike in fuel prices, and said that one major reason for the rise in petrol and diesel prices was the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.