Why are fuel prices rising and what the govt can do

The price of petrol crossed the Rs 90 mark in Maharashtra today, a day after Opposition parties -- most notably the Congress -- took part in a Bharat Bandh to protest the soaring costs of fuel.

In Delhi, the prices of petrol and diesel were both hiked by 14 paise. Petrol is being sold today at Rs 80.87 per litre, and diesel at Rs 72.97 per litre. This comes a day after top sources in Finance Ministry ruled out any cut in levies in the near future to ease the common man's pain, claiming there was "no scope for a cut in excise duty by the Centre and [the] VAT charged by the states."