Higher transportation cost pushes petrol rate in Maharashtra's Parbhani to Rs 122.67/ lit

Aurangabad: With fuel prices being hiked multiple times over the last two weeks, the rate of petrol in Parbhani district in Maharashtra reached Rs 122.67 a litre on Tuesday, one of the highest prices in the country, mainly due to the higher transportation cost.

The steep rise is also attributed to the long distance of over 400 km between Parbhani city located in the Marathwada region and the fuel depot at Manmad in the Nashik district in north Maharashtra, a petrol dealer said.

"The cost of fuel in Parbhani (district) is high due to the long distance between the Panewadi fuel depot at Manmad in Nashik district and Parbhani city," Parbhani Petrol Dealers Association president Amol Bhedsurkar told PTI on Tuesday.

He said the round trip distance for a tanker transporting fuel to Parbhani from the Panewadi-based depot in Manmad is nearly 730 km.

"The fuel transportation cost for Parbhani is nearly Rs 2.07 per litre. The overall cost runs into Rs 24,000 for operating a fuel tanker on the Manmad-Parbhani-Manmad trip," he said.

Bhedsurkar further said the fuel depot at Panewadi is the nearest to Parbhani compared to other such depots in Maharashtra.

"Due to the long distance between the depots and Parbhani, the fuel cost goes up. The price of petrol per litre in Parbhani without the dealer's profit is Rs 119.02 as of Tuesday. At Rs 122.67 per litre, the rate of petrol in Parbhani is one of the highest in the country," he added.

When contacted, an official at the HPCL regional office in Aurangabad city said that the prices of fuel at a specific location depend on the distance between that location and the nearest depot.

"Due to the long distance between Parbhani and Panewadi the cost of fuel is also high," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last two weeks to Rs 9.20 per litre.