New Delhi, March 22 : For the first time since November 2, 2021, fuel prices were increased on Tuesday. Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 80 paise a litre after a status quo for 137 days. Post hike, petrol now costs Rs 96.21 per litre in Delhi, while diesel Rs 87.47 per litre. In Kolkata, petrol costs Rs 105.51, while diesel Rs 90.62 per litre. In Mumbai, petrol is available at Rs 110.82 per litre, while diesel at Rs 95 per litre. In Chennai petrol costs Rs 102.16 while diesel Rs 92.19. Cooking gas prices too have been increased. Domestic LPG cylinder prices would now cost more by over Rs 50 in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities with effect from Tuesday. A 14.2-kg non-subsidised LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 949.50 in Delhi. It is the first increase in LPG rates since early October last year. The fuel prices were not increased for the last over 4 months presumably due to Assembly elections in the 5 states in spite of crude oil prices increasing in the international oil market due to Russia-Ukraine war. Some oil marketing companies had raised the bulk diesel prices by Rs 25 a litre last week. The fuel prices may again cross Rs 100-mark in most cities should oil marketing companies choose to go for daily upward revision. Increase in fuel prices is set to further push up inflation which has already been firm over the past few months. The higher fuel price soon reflects in logistics and transportation cost which indirectly impacts prices of most items especially daily essentials like fruits, vegetables and foodgrains. As per an estimate, a 10 per cent rise in pump price of diesel and petrol pushes up inflation by nearly 50-60 basis points. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The global crude prices have corrected in the past two weeks after reaching the peak of 2008 but it still remains elevated in the wake of Russia-Ukraine conflict. Brent crude futures were up $3.40 on Monday at $111.33 a barrel. It had hit $139 on March 8 as many European countries and the US moved to ban import oil from Russia as part of sanction against Moscow. Supply disruption in Russia could lead to a surge in prices as it is one of the key crude oil producers. Russia is one of the biggest crude oil producers in the world along with the US and Saudi Arabia with production of over 10 million barrels per day or nearly 10 per cent of world supply, as per a Kotak Securities report. AKM-NK