Petrol Price Today in India: Latest Rates & What’s Coming Next

Walk into any petrol station in the capital today and the meter reads ₹94.77 per litre. Same as yesterday. Same as last week. Same, in fact, as it's been for most of March.

That kind of stability might sound reassuring. But when you zoom out and look at what's happening on the global stage — a conflict that's effectively shut down one of the world's most critical oil shipping lanes — this calm at the pump starts to feel less like good news and more like a dam holding back a flood.

Petrol and diesel prices across India remained unchanged on March 31, 2026, with oil marketing companies keeping rates frozen despite crude oil trading at elevated levels internationally due to the West Asia conflict. 

Where Things Stand City by City

The numbers tell a familiar, if uneven, story. In New Delhi, the price of petrol is ₹94.77 per litre as of today, unchanged from yesterday and consistent throughout the month of March.

Mumbai is a different matter. In the financial capital, petrol is priced at ₹103.49 per litre, while diesel sits at around ₹90.03 per litre. Hyderabad continues to rank among the most expensive metros — petrol there is at ₹107.45 per litre, while Kolkata charges ₹104.99 per litre. Bengaluru is at ₹102.90 and Chennai at ₹100.79. 

India currently sells petrol at prices ranging from ₹94 to ₹107 per litre depending on the city and state taxation structure. That gap — nearly ₹13 between the cheapest and most expensive major city — isn't a glitch. It's a feature of how Indian fuel pricing actually works.

State VAT is the main culprit. Delhi levies a comparatively lower tax burden than Maharashtra or Telangana, which is why that difference at the nozzle feels so stark to anyone who's driven across state lines.

The Fire Underneath: What's Happening to Global Crude

Here's the part that doesn't make it to the pump — yet.

The global oil market is dealing with the ramifications of the war in the Middle East. The crisis has led to a near halt in tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz, with nearly 20 million barrels per day of crude and product exports currently disrupted. 

That's not a small number. The Strait of Hormuz is a major world oil transit chokepoint through which nearly 20% of global oil supply flows. When that lane closes — or even significantly slows — the ripple effects hit every importing nation, and India is far from immune.

In March 2026, following the US-Israeli Iranian war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices surged by more than 30% in under a month, reaching $102 per barrel by mid-March. 

Benchmark crude oil prices surged by $20 per barrel to reach $92 per barrel since the outbreak of hostilities on February 28. The IEA, in its March report, estimated that crude production was being curtailed by at least 8 million barrels per day, with a further 2 million barrels per day of condensates also shut in.

That's an enormous chunk of supply yanked off the market. And yet India's pump prices haven't moved. How?

How India Is Playing This

The government is doing several things simultaneously, and not all of them are sustainable.

First, emergency reserves. India currently has enough crude oil and refined fuel stocks to last about 25 days, according to government sources, with no immediate plan to raise petrol and diesel prices. Officials have also been exploring alternative sources for crude oil and LPG imports as tensions continue.

Second, political calculation. With assembly elections coming up in key states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam, the government is keen to avoid any fuel price hike that could become a political issue. That's not a secret — nobody in the government will say it on record, but nobody denies it either.

Third, diversification. India has been quietly accelerating sourcing from non-Hormuz supply routes. The Indian government is holding prices steady using strategic reserves, diversified sourcing through increased non-Hormuz imports, and comfortable stock levels to shield consumers from immediate volatility. 

On March 1, OPEC+ agreed to begin increasing production in April 2026 by a total of 206,000 barrels per day in response to estimated low oil inventories. Whether that production actually materialises — given that several key OPEC producers are in or adjacent to the conflict zone — remains the big unknown going into April.

The Russian Crude Complication

There's another layer to this that's been building for weeks.

Sanctions on Russian oil are reshaping global trade flows, with barrels being redirected away from India and primarily toward China. India, which had become one of the largest buyers of discounted Russian crude over the past two years, is now under pressure to scale back those purchases. President Trump recently announced lower US tariffs on Indian goods, contingent on India's continued reduction of Russian oil imports. India has scaled back its intake of Russian oil, with flows being redirected primarily toward China.

That matters because Russia was India's insurance policy against exactly this kind of West Asian disruption. Cheap Russian barrels gave Indian refiners some cushion. That cushion is now thinner.

The Dynamic Pricing System — And Why It's Under Strain

Fuel rates across the country are revised daily at 6 AM under the dynamic fuel pricing system, which was introduced in June 2017 to improve transparency and reduce speculative pricing practices. In practice, during periods of geopolitical tension, the "dynamic" part of that system tends to get quietly suspended — oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, BPCL and HPCL absorb the margin squeeze rather than pass it to consumers.

State-run fuel retailers have absorbed losses when crude prices were high and gained when prices fell, keeping fuel prices in India stable even when global oil rates have increased. This has happened before — and each time, there's been a correction. The question is how sharp.

India is the third-largest consumer of crude oil globally and imports about 96% of its consumption. That dependency leaves little room for prolonged insulation.

What's Coming

The IEA has already made a large coordinated reserve release. IEA member countries agreed on March 11 to make available an unprecedented 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to mitigate the negative impact on economies from the supply disruptions, though the coordinated release remains a stop-gap measure if the conflict continues. 

Markets, meanwhile, remain deeply uncertain. J.P. Morgan expects Brent crude to average around $60 per barrel for 2026 overall, with disruptions to oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz expected to eventually subside. But that's an annual average — in the near term, the pressure is decidedly upward.

For Indian consumers, the practical reality is this: every day that global crude stays above $95 per barrel with the Hormuz route constrained is another day the oil marketing companies are bleeding margin they'll eventually need to recover. The election calendar gives the government some cover. But elections end. Crude doesn't care about polling dates.

Diesel is the one that should worry people more. Diesel prices play a key role in the broader economy, as most commercial transport in India runs on diesel. Any increase in diesel rates can raise transportation costs and push up prices of essential commodities.

Nobody's saying there will be a price hike next week. But the arithmetic of holding the line is getting harder. Today's ₹94.77 in Delhi is a number that looks stable on the surface. The ground beneath it is anything but.