Congress leader and former Union Finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday claimed that if the government wants they can slash the petrol prices by Rs 25. However, he alleged that government will not do so as they only want to loot people but will calm the situation by reducing Rs 1 or Rs 2.

Making a scathing attack on the BJP-led Central government, the Congress on Tuesday questioned the constant rise in petrol and diesel prices, and demanded they be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) ambit.

Petrol and diesel prices raised for the ninth straight day across the country. The nine hikes come after a 19-day hiatus when fuel prices were kept unchanged for May 12 Karnataka Elections.

With continuous rise in global oil price hike, fuel in India has crossed its peak heights. It is likely that government will slash excise duty to halt continuous rise in fuel prices.

Petrol price on Sunday crossed an all-time high mark at Rs 76.24 per litre and diesel reached to Rs 67.57 after oil prices kept on rising in the international market.

Petrol price in the national capital touched Rs 74.95 per litre on Tuesday, a fresh high, since it hit Rs 76.06 a litre in September 2013.

With the resumption of dynamic pricing system for transport fuels on Monday by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), petrol prices in the national capital shot up to Rs 74.80 per litre. Opposition slammed this price rise as "poll-politics".

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday accused the Modi government of punishing the common man by not passing on the benefits of low international petroleum prices to the people.

Petrol price in Delhi on Sunday touched Rs 74.40 per litre, the highest since May 2014, as per the daily price listed by state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) under its dynamic pricing regime.

Amid rising global trend, the petrol and diesel prices have gone sky high in Delhi and Mumbai.