New Delhi, May 20: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday assured that the government would soon come out with a solution to bring fuel prices under control. Speaking to reporters, Pradhan said, “I accept that citizens of India and especially middle class suffers due to fuel price hike. Factors like less production of oil in OPEC countries & hike in the price of crude oil in intl market affect price. Indian govt will soon come out with a solution.”

Petrol price today touched a record high of Rs 76.24 per litre and diesel climbed to its highest ever level of Rs 67.57 in Delhi. Price breached the previous high of Rs 76.06 touched in Delhi on September 14, 2013. Diesel has also touched the all-time high.

In Mumbai petrol is sold at Rs 84.07 per litre because of the local taxes levied on petrol. According to price notification, petrol has also touched 80-mark in Bhopal, Patna and Srinagar. In Bhopal petrol is sold at Rs 81.83 per litre and in Hyderabad, consumers have to pay Rs 80.76 per litre.

Diesel is the costliest in Hyderabad where it is priced at Rs 73.45 a litre due to high local taxes. A litre of diesel costs Rs 71.94 in Mumbai, Rs 70.12 in Kolkatta and Rs 71.32 in Chennai.

State-run oil companies resumed the dynamic pricing mechanism on May 14 after 19 days. The prices were kept stable between April 24 and May 13 because of the Karnataka Assembly elections.

On May 18, Pradhan has pressed OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to keep prices stable and moderate. According to an official statement, the union minister conveyed his concern to Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, when he called Pradhan on May 17 to discuss continued joint cooperation, in particular, the current oil market situation.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2018 08:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).