State owned oil marketing companies on Saturday again hiked prices of petrol and diesel by 87 paise and 91 paise respectively. With this third hike in 10 days, prices have gone up by nearly ₹5 a litre. At the same time, compressed natural gas (CNG) prices were raised by ₹1 per kg, marking the third increase in recent days and taking the cumulative hike to ₹ 4 per kg.
Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation has said that petrol and diesel sales increased by 14 and 18 per cent respectively during first 22 days of the current month. However, there is no issue with availability, it assured.
This is the third increase in rates since May 15, when state-owned oil companies started passing on the almost 50 per cent hike in crude prices arising from the West Asia conflict in a calibrated manner. Prices were hiked by ₹3 a litre on May 15, followed by a 90 paise increase on May 19. India relies on imports for nearly 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements, making domestic fuel prices vulnerable to fluctuations in global markets. The fresh hike is likely to put additional pressure on commuters, transporters and businesses across multiple sectors.
Petrol and diesel prices are now at their highest levels since May 2022. Rates had remained frozen since April 2022 except for a ₹2-per-litre cut in March 2024 ahead of Lok Sabha elections. The fuel price increases come amid broader efforts by the government to contain India’s oil import bill and reduce fuel consumption. The hike comes a day after the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had assured that, despite rumours, India has adequate petrol and diesel supplies.
The retail selling price of CNG has been increased by Rs 1/kg wef 6 am on 23.05.2026 in all GAs of IGL. The revision in retail prices of CNG has been affected only to marginally offset the impact of increase in input gas cost along with steep appreciation of USD. Even after revision, CNG would still offer upto 45% savings towards the running cost when compared to vehicles running on alternate fuel at the current level of prices.
Meanwhile, Indian Oil reassured that there is no overall shortage of petrol and diesel in the country. Though, it did note that there could be some issues with certain petrol pump, however, it is “highly localised and temporary in nature, arising due to local demand-supply imbalances and redistribution of sales patterns in select areas,” it said.
Further, it said that the higher demand being witnessed at some locations is attributable various factors such as seasonal increase in diesel demand during the ongoing harvesting period. Also, there is possibility of temporary shift of customers from certain private retail outlets owing to relatively higher retail prices at some private pumps. Also, increased migration of institutional and commercial demand to PSU retail outlets pushed the demand, as bulk and institutional supplies are currently priced significantly higher in line with prevailing international market prices.
Published on May 23, 2026
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