Petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged across major Indian cities

State-owned oil marketing companies held retail fuel prices steady on August 21, following increases of ₹2.61 per litre for petrol and ₹2.71 per litre for diesel on May 25. Delhi petrol stood at ₹102.12 per litre, while Mumbai was at ₹111.21.

— Source published Fri, 21 Aug, 2026, 08:37 IST · First seen Fri, 21 Aug, 2026, 08:57 IST · Source Business Today · Latest

What happened

State-owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) · Petrol and diesel retail prices across major Indian cities were largely unchanged on August 21 after OMCs raised

Key facts

  • Petrol prices raised by ₹2.61/litre since May 25
  • Diesel prices raised by ₹2.71/litre since May 25
  • Delhi petrol ₹102.12/litre; diesel ₹95.20/litre
  • Mumbai petrol ₹111.21/litre; diesel ₹97.83/litre
  • Hyderabad petrol ₹115.69/litre; diesel ₹103.82/litre
  • Kolkata petrol ₹113.50/litre; diesel ₹99.82/litre
  • Bengaluru petrol ₹110.93/litre; diesel ₹98.80/litre
  • Chennai petrol ₹107.76/litre; diesel ₹99.55/litre

Why this matters

Steady pricing offers a clearer baseline for assessing logistics partnerships, fleet efficiency investments and fuel-exposed acquisition targets.

What to watch

  • Any OMC retail-price revision, especially a further diesel increase.
  • Crude oil and rupee movements that raise pressure on OMC marketing margins.
  • Government tax changes, subsidy measures or election-linked fuel-price intervention.
  • Transporter surcharge announcements and changes in e-commerce delivery fees.
  • Rural consumption, FMCG volume growth and discretionary retail sales trends.
  • Maintain current freight and delivery pricing rather than implementing broad fuel surcharges.
  • Shift more volume toward route optimization, fuller truckloads and regional inventory placement to offset diesel costs.
  • Protect margins through selective promotional cuts or supplier negotiations instead of across-the-board shelf-price increases.
  • Monitor rural and tier-2/3 sales for fuel-linked softness in discretionary categories.