Petrol up Rs 5, diesel Rs 3: Nayara's hike drags the inflation burden back to the pump

Fuel is about to cost more for millions of Indian motorists. Nayara Energy, India's largest private fuel retailer, has raised petrol prices by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 3 a litre across its network of 7,108 outlets, with the new rates taking effect from the early hours of Saturday, people familiar with the matter said. The company blames rising global crude oil and refined-product prices, saying the revision narrows the gap between retail pump prices and higher procurement costs. It is Nayara's second price increase this year. On March 26, the company raised petrol by Rs 5 and diesel by Rs 3 after the Iran conflict disrupted energy supplies — taking rates at its outlets to Rs 100.71 for petrol and Rs 91.31 for diesel — and reversed the increase on July 1 once crude prices eased. That July cut was the first reduction by any fuel retailer in more than two years, and it brought Nayara broadly back in line with the state-owned oil marketing companies. This time, the state-owned retailers — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, which operate more than 90 per cent of India's 104,000-plus petrol pumps — are still holding prices steady, despite the same global price pressures. Earlier this week, the government publicly warned private fuel retailers against restricting sales of petrol and diesel. Nayara was not the only increase consumers woke up to. State-owned oil companies have raised commercial LPG prices by Rs 62.50 per 19-kg cylinder from October, though domestic LPG stays unchanged at Rs 942. Aviation turbine fuel prices have surged by Rs 16 a litre — from Rs 121 to Rs 137 for domestic airlines — following increases of Rs 6.28 a litre in September and Rs 5 in August. The asymmetry is hard to miss. When global prices climbed, the private retailer passed them on to the consumer within hours; the state-owned giants, meanwhile, absorb marketing losses to keep headline inflation under control — until, eventually, they don't. Either way, the cost lands in the same place: the commuter filling a tank, the trucker moving freight, the household paying for a cylinder. The burden of geopolitics, as always, is collected at the pump.