Petrol prices across metros have been increased by 25-27 paise per litre, while diesel prices have gone up by 24 paise. According to information from Indian Oil, petrol now costs Rs 74.89 per litre in Bengaluru, Rs 75.26 per litre in Chennai, Rs 76.99 in Hyderabad and Rs 74.51 in Ernakulam.

While petrol prices in Hyderabad and Chennai went up by 27 paise, Bengaluru’s went up by 26 paise and Ernakulam saw petrol price increase by 34 paise, as compared to the previous day.

In Delhi, a litre of petrol now costs Rs 72.42, in Mumbai Rs 78.10, and in Kolkata Rs 75.14.

Diesel prices in Hyderabad now stand at Rs 71.75 a litre, Rs 68.06 in Bengaluru, Rs 69.57 in Chennai, Rs 65.82 a litre in Delhi, Rs 69.04 in Mumbai, and Rs 68.23 in Kolkata.

This is steepest hike in petrol prices since the July 5 budget, when a hike in excise duty led to petrol prices increasing by nearly Rs 2.50 a litre.

Why the price hike:

This increase comes after drone attacks on Saudi Aramco’s oil refinery on Saturday wiped off 5.7 million barrels of oil, which is 5% of the global crude oil supply. Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest supplier of crude oil.

India imports more than 80% of its oil requirements.

"These attacks resulted in production suspension of 5.7 million barrels of crude oil per day," Saudi Aramco said in a statement.

Post the attacks, when markets opened on Monday, crude oil prices shot up by 20% to above $71 a barrel. This is reportedly the biggest jump in nearly 30 years.

On Tuesday, international oil prices slid with Brent crude being down 0.5% at $68.66 a barrel.

As per a Mint report, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said that India is keeping a close watch on the developing situation. "When there is a spike in prices, it creates anxiety. The events since Saturday (when the Saudi oil facilities were attacked) are a matter of concern to us," Mint quoted him as saying.