All grades of petrol and diesel will cost more starting this Wednesday, the Department of Energy said in a statement.

According to the recently released statement,   the prices of all grades of petrol will jump by 39 cents per litre, while all grades of diesel will become costlier by 24.2 cents a litre from the mid of this week.

The energy department also announced hikes in prices of illuminating paraffin and LP gas. While the price of paraffin is set to increase by 12-16 cents per litre, the maximum retail price of LP gas would increase by 54c cents per litre.

Defending the increase in fuel prices, the department said the hikes were necessary due to increase in international prices. In the statement, the energy department said, "The average rand/US dollar exchange rate weakened when compared to the previous period."

In India, oil marketing companies increased the price of diesel by 50 paise per litre. State taxes will inflate the prices even more. In Mumbai, diesel now costs Rs 63.23 a litre, as against Rs 62.60 a litre previously. In Delhi, diesel price jumped 57 paise to Rs 54.91 per litre.

However, the price of non-subsidised LPG slipped Rs 107 per cylinder on easing global gas rates. The 44.2-kg LPG cylinder now costs Rs 1,241 at non-subsidised rates, as against Rs 1,134 previously. Consumers have purchase LPG at market rates once they have consumed their subsidised quota, which has recently been increased to 12 cylinders per household per year.