Eleven days after the announcement of the Assembly election results of four states and a UT, the Centre on Friday increased the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre with immediate effect. The opposition Congress warned that the move would worsen inflation and hamper economic growth.The prices were increased for the first time in almost four years due to growing pressure from rising crude oil prices on state-run oil marketing companies amid the West Asia crisis.As a result of the hike, the fuel prices will rise across the country. The new prices of petrol are Rs 97.77 in Delhi, Rs 108.74 in Kolkata, Rs 106.64 in Mumbai and Rs 103.90 in Chennai.Diesel will now cost Rs 90.65 per litre in Delhi, Rs 95.13 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 93.14 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 95.47 per litre in Chennai.Delhi’s CNG prices have also been increased by Rs 2 per kg. Until Thursday, the price was Rs 85; now, it stands at Rs 87.Despite the hike in the petrol and diesel prices, India is still at the bottom of the global fuel price increase table, with the domestic petrol prices rising by only 3.2 per cent and the diesel prices up by 3.4 per cent over the four-year period.Data shows that the petrol prices have increased from 40 per cent to more than 89 per cent in several countries, including Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan and the US, while the diesel prices have climbed by over 100 per cent in other markets.The Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers’ Association has written to oil marketing companies, highlighting operational issues being faced by retailers.According to the letter, the companies are pressuring retailers to sell premium petrol rather than regular petrol.It stated that while the companies stressed that there was no petrol shortage, limiting the sale of regular petrol ran contrary to the claim.On Wednesday, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had said the long-running crisis in West Asia would cause the fuel prices to rise in India.“If the West Asia conflict continues, the government may have to raise fuel prices. Since the government has adopted fiscally prudent policies, it is “only a matter of time” before higher oil prices are passed on more fully,” Malhotra had said.The Congress accused the BJP-led NDA government of pushing the country into “deepening inflation and fuel crises” through excessive taxation, economic mismanagement and what it called a “leadership crisis” at the Centre.As petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG prices continued to rise amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the opposition party alleged that the Modi government had once again shifted the burden on to ordinary citizens immediately after the elections while protecting oil companies and continuing its “cycle of loot” through fuel taxes.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the crisis being faced by the country was not limited to global fuel volatility but was also the result of “lack of visionary thinking and incompetence” of the Modi government.Calling it a “Modi government-made crisis”, Kharge said rising diesel prices triggered a cascading effect across industries, household budgets and agriculture. Referring to reports on India seeking an extension of the US waiver for buying Russian oil, he questioned why the country had been reduced to seeking “permission” from the US.Reacting to the fuel price hike, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said, “The public will pay the price for the Modi government’s ‘mistake’. The Rs 3 shock has already arrived; the rest of the recovery will be made in instalments.”Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said the Congress had repeatedly demanded that the benefits of lower global crude prices be passed on to consumers, but “consumers were fleeced”.“Now that the international oil prices are climbing because of the war in West Asia unleashed by the PM’s good friends — the US and Israel — and the Assembly elections are over, the Modi government has increased the petrol and diesel prices after having hiked commercial LPG prices earlier,” Ramesh said.Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Congress general secretary and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the Modi government collected nearly Rs 43 lakh crore through taxes on petrol and diesel since 2014, amounting to almost Rs 1,000 crore every day.