Fuel prices across major cities rose for the second consecutive day on Tuesday even as the government intervened last week in regulating the prices by reducing excise duty on petrol and diesel.

In Mumbai, petrol stood at Rs 87.73 a litre while diesel was priced at Rs 77.68 a litre. In New Delhi, petrol and diesel prices were at Rs 82.26 a litre and Rs 74.11 a litre, respectively.

In Kolkata, petrol was at Rs 84.09, while diesel stood at Rs 75.96 per litre. Whereas, petrol and diesel in Chennai were at Rs 85.50 per litre and Rs 78.35 per litre, respectively.

Since mid-August, the petrol and diesel prices had been on the rise after the daily price revision was introduced in mid-June last year. Various factors including rupee depreciation, high excise duty and rise in Brent crude oil rates have led to soaring domestic fuel prices.

On Tuesday, Brent crude was down 7 cents at $83.84 a barrel. Brent hit a four-year high of $86.74 last week.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that Indian companies will continue to buy Iranian oil in November despite the looming US sanctions on that country.

"We have to fulfill our own domestic requirements. Some of our companies have already nominated their quota for November," said the minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, while referring to import of Iran's oil by Indian companies.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer, will buy 9 million barrels of Iranian oil in November.

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday stressed on use of alternative sources of energy including bio ethanol amid rise in petroleum prices.

"Import of petrol is becoming difficult for the country and so we should look at the alternative sources of energy ...we should make full use of biofuel, methanol, and ethanol among others," the Union minister said while addressing the closing function of Indian International Science Festival (IISF) here.

Under the supervision of ministry of Science and Technology, cheap and eco-friendly alternatives have been successfully tried, Gadkari said, adding that his ministry has earned a lot of revenue through alternative fuel.