India's fuel prices rise again amid global oil shock and heatwave

India's state-run fuel retailers raised the prices of petrol and diesel by about 90 paise per litre (less than €0,01 or $0,01) on Tuesday, marking the second increase in fuel rates in less than a week.

Oil retailers broke a four-year freeze in fuel prices last week, due to global oil shock from the US-Israel war with Iran.

In New Delhi, petrol prices stood at Rs 98.64 (€0,88, $1,03) per litre while diesel prices rose to Rs 91.58 per litre, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

Fuel prices in India differ from city to city due to state-level taxes, transportation costs and dealer commissions.

Global crude prices rose nearly 8% last week as tensions between the US and Iran continue to simmer.

On May 15, Indian fuel retailers had hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs 3 per litre, for the first time in four years.

Gas prices have also been hiked twice over the last week, sparking worries among public transport operators.

These hikes come soon after India completed its Assembly Elections for the year, extending Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party's influenceafter it won three of five states.

India's opposition has accused the government of delaying fuel hikes to gain voters' favor for the elections.

Indian voters are significantly sensitive to fuel price hikes, at times swaying their vote at the ballot.

Last week's increase covered just a fifth of the desired hike required to level rates with cost. Experts then had signalled that more hikes were in store.

On Monday, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had stated that the May 15 hike had cut losses by a fourth and that oil companies were still incurring about Rs 750 crore (€66.85 million, $77.9 million) a day loss.

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Good morning, and welcome to DW's India news blog!

This is Mahima Kapoor from the New Delhi bureau, and I will be your guide through the day’s biggest headlines from India.

People across northern and central India braced for extreme heat as the national weather agency warned of "heatwave to severe heatwave conditions" for the entire week. In Delhi, the mercury is expected to hit 45 degrees Celcius today and residents have been advised to stay hydrated, avoid long exposures to the sun and watch out for heat-related illnesses.

And there is little relief on the economic front either, withfuel prices climbing for a second time in a week. Economists and the country's central bank had warned Indians that hikes were inevitable with no end to the Middle East conflict in sight.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the fourth leg of his five-nation tour to shore up trade, investment, energy and defense agreements for India amid the changing geopolitical landscape.

He is set to attend the third India-Nordic Summit in Norway today and then fly to Italy — the last of the five nations.

We have all of this and much more coming up. Stay tuned.