Fuel Prices Rise To New High As Hardeep Singh Puri Takes Over As New Oil Minister

Fuel price hike: Petrol price was hiked by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 9 paise on Thursday. Hardeep Singh Puri said he would comment on the issue only after getting a full briefing from the officials.

Petrol and diesel prices rose to fresh highs on Thursday as Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas saw a change of guard with Hardeep Singh Puri taking over from Dharmendra Pradhan. Petrol price was hiked by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 9 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This took fuel prices across the country to a fresh high. Soon after taking charge of the ministry, Mr Puri said he would comment on the issue only after getting a full briefing from the officials. "Give me some time. I need to be briefed on the issues," he told reporters. "It will be very wrong for me to comment on it (fuel prices) when I have just stepped into this building."