A litre of petrol in Chennai cost ₹107.77 on 21 October 2026, up ₹21.26 from ₹86.51 on 1 January 2021. Diesel went from ₹79.21 to ₹99.55 over the same stretch. A third of that petrol rise came in just ten days: four price revisions between 15 and 25 May 2026 added ₹6.93 a litre, according to the daily price table of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Before May, prices had hardly moved: from January 2025 to mid-May 2026, city petrol changed once, by four paise. The charts track the price at the start of each year since 2021, then zoom in on May.
- Each point is the Chennai pump price on 1 January of that year; the last point is 21 October 2026, so the final step is under ten months, not a full year.
- The vertical scale starts at ₹70, not zero, to show the changes clearly.
The 2021 surge, then a long pause
Petrol rose ₹14.89 during 2021, the steepest year, even though the Tamil Nadu government cut its tax on petrol by ₹3 a litre in its revised 2021-22 budget of 13 August 2021, at an estimated cost of ₹1,160 crore a year. The Centre then cut excise duty in two rounds, in November 2021 and May 2022, by a total of ₹13 a litre on petrol and ₹16 on diesel, according to a Lok Sabha reply of July 2025.
Then came long flat spells. Chennai petrol was ₹102.63 on both 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2024, and ₹100.80 on 1 January 2025. When the Centre raised excise by ₹2 a litre in April 2025, the same reply says, the increase was not passed on to buyers.
May 2026: four rises in ten days
The pause ended on 15 May 2026. Chennai petrol went from ₹100.84 to ₹103.67 that day, then to ₹104.49 on 19 May, ₹105.31 on 23 May and ₹107.77 on 25 May. Diesel climbed from ₹92.39 to ₹99.55 in the same steps, and neither has changed since, the PPAC table shows. News reports, including Business Today, linked the rises to crude oil climbing above $100 a barrel after the conflict in West Asia.
Among the four big metros, Chennai’s rise was the smallest. Petrol went up ₹6.93 here, against ₹7.35 in Delhi, ₹7.67 in Mumbai and ₹8.06 in Kolkata. Chennai still pays ₹5.65 more than Delhi, partly because each state sets its own sales tax.
Tamil Nadu’s sales tax on a litre of petrol: a percentage plus a fixed amount. For diesel it is 11% plus ₹9.62, per PPAC’s state tax table.
The numbers behind the graphic
| Date | Petrol, ₹/litre | Diesel, ₹/litre | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 February 2014 | 75.75 | 58.56 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2018 |
| 1 June 2016 | 65.04 | 55.44 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2018 |
| 1 May 2018 | 77.43 | 69.56 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2018 |
| 1 January 2021 | 86.51 | 79.21 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2025 |
| 1 January 2022 | 101.40 | 91.43 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2025 |
| 1 January 2023 | 102.63 | 94.24 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2025 |
| 1 January 2024 | 102.63 | 94.24 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2025 |
| 1 January 2025 | 100.80 | 92.39 | Lok Sabha reply, Aug 2025 |
| 1 January 2026 | 100.84 | 92.39 | PPAC daily table |
| 15 May 2026 | 103.67 | 95.25 | PPAC daily table |
| 19 May 2026 | 104.49 | 96.11 | PPAC daily table |
| 23 May 2026 | 105.31 | 96.98 | PPAC daily table |
| 25 May to 21 October 2026 | 107.77 | 99.55 | PPAC daily table |
| Metro | Petrol, 14 May 2026 | Petrol, 21 Oct 2026 | Diesel, 21 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | 105.45 | 113.51 | 99.82 |
| Mumbai | 103.54 | 111.21 | 97.83 |
| Chennai | 100.84 | 107.77 | 99.55 |
| Delhi | 94.77 | 102.12 | 95.20 |
Source: PPAC, daily retail selling price of petrol and diesel in metro cities, table posted 21 October 2026 (covers 2025 onwards); Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Lok Sabha Starred Question 412 (21 August 2025, Annexures I and II, 1 January prices 2021 to 2025) and Unstarred Question 3146 (6 August 2018).
About the data
PPAC’s current daily table for the four metros goes back only to January 2025, so the 2021 to 2025 year-start prices come from a ministry reply in Parliament that lists each state’s reference city. Older snapshots from a 2018 reply are in the table: in June 2016 petrol was ₹65.04, with excise at ₹21.48 a litre and state VAT at 27%. We found no official Chennai prices for 1 January 2017 to 2020, so the chart starts in 2021.
Oil companies publish a price build-up only for Delhi: on 1 August 2026 a Delhi litre of petrol was ₹81.12 to the dealer, ₹4.41 dealer commission and ₹16.59 VAT, per Indian Oil. No Chennai breakdown is published.
Quick answers
What is the petrol price in Chennai now?
₹107.77 a litre on 21 October 2026, unchanged since 25 May. Prices can change at 6 am on any day.
How much has petrol risen in Chennai since 2021?
By ₹21.26, or 24.6%, from ₹86.51 on 1 January 2021. Diesel is up ₹20.34, or 25.7%.
Information checked against official sources on 22 October 2026. Figures can be revised; confirm on the linked official pages before relying on them.
Sources
- Daily RSP of petrol and diesel in metro cities, table posted 21 October 2026 (PPAC)
- RSP of Petrol and Diesel in Metro Cities since 16.6.2017 (PPAC)
- Lok Sabha Starred Question 412, Impact of Prices of Petrol and Diesel, 21 August 2025 (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas)
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1875, Rising Prices of Petroleum Products, 31 July 2025 (MoPNG)
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3146, Import Price of Crude Oil, 6 August 2018 (MoPNG)
- VAT/Sales Tax/GST rates on petroleum products (PPAC)
- Price build-up of petrol at Delhi, 1 August 2026 (Indian Oil Corporation)
- Tamil Nadu Budget Analysis 2021-22 (PRS Legislative Research)
- Four hikes in two weeks: will petrol, diesel prices rise again? (Business Today, 29 May 2026)
