New Delhi, Sep 13: The steep rise in fuel prices continued on Thursday, with petrol being sold at Rs 81.00 per litre in Delhi and Rs 88.39 per litre in Mumbai. The cost of diesel per litre has also been increased to Rs 73.08 per litre in Delhi and Rs 77.58 a litre in Mumbai. There was an increase of Rs 0.13 in petrol price and Rs 0.11 in diesel rate across the country. Chech rates of fuel in your city here.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court refused to interfere in a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the sale of petrol and diesel at reasonable prices instead of letting oil companies increase the rates exorbitantly. However, the court asked the government to consider an earlier representation pending before it on price rise of petrol and diesel and listed the matter for further hearing on November 16. Petrol, Diesel Price Rise Effect: Daily Use Products, Smartphones to Cost 5-8 Per Cent More as Fuel Rate Soars.

The government parried questions on rising fuel prices at an official media briefing in the national capital, with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan asserting that he would not answer questions outside of the day's Cabinet decisions. "We will confine ourselves to the Cabinet decisions only," Pradhan told IANS when asked if a relief was in the offing from soaring oil prices.

The minister also chose to keep mum when asked if the Union Cabinet discussed the issue on Wednesday. On Tuesday, petrol prices breached the psychological barrier of Rs 90 and touched a scorching Rs 90.11 in Maharashtra's Parbhani - a new record in India.

Fuel prices in the country have been rising almost daily since August 1. They fell only once on August 13 in the last 41 days. Prices have gone up on 30 days and remained unchanged on 11 days, and have been breaching record levels for more than a week now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2018 08:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).