Petrol sells at Rs87 a litre in Mumbai, diesel at Rs75.74
04 Sep 2018
Retail price of petrol hit Rs87 a lire in Mumbai while diesel price rose to Rs75.74 a litre as fuel prices continued their upward march in the country on the back of a falling rupee and firmer dollar.
State-run oil companies increased the price of petrol by 16 paise and that of diesel by 19 paise a litre today, as they extended the price hike for the tenth consecutive day today.
A litre of petrol now costs Rs86.72 in Mumbai, Rs79.31 in Delhi, Rs82.41 Chennai and Rs82.22 in Kolkata. A litre of diesel now costs Rs75.74 in Mumbai, Rs71.34 in Delhi, Rs75.39 in Chennai and Rs74.19 in Kolkata, according to daily price notification by oil marketing companies.
Since 16 August, petrol prices have risen by over Rs2 per litre while diesel prices have been hiked by Rs2.61 per litre.
The government blamed external factors and the rising fuel prices elsewhere for the price spike, saying that retail prices of petrol and diesel in India track the global prices of these auto fuels, not crude.
Any rally in global crude oil price will also impact India’s oil import bill and trade deficit as every dollar increase in oil prices would impact import bill by around Rs10,700 crore on an annual basis.
Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, however, decided not to mention the current level of levies on crude and the demand to bring auto fuels under GST, to lighten the tax effect.
Since the prices of petrol and diesel vary from state to state due to local levies, Congress has demanded that fuel should also be brought under the ambit of goods and services tax (GST) immediately. “Relentless rise in prices of petrol and diesel is not inevitable. Because, the price is built up by excessive taxes on petrol and diesel. If taxes are cut, prices will decline significantly,” Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram said.
Arguing that one cannot blame the state government for rising prices, he said the Centre and states must act together and bring petrol and diesel under GST.
Petrol dealers association officials citing sources at oil marketing companies said the indications are that petrol and diesel prices will continue to rise depending on fluctuations in international crude oil prices and other factors such as the falling rate of rupee vis-a-vis the dollar.
The price hikes will pinch motorists, already frustrated with low mileage and extra fuel consumption due to road congestion, and vehicle speeds dropping to 10kmph on express highways during peak hours.
Transporters, burdened with diesel price hikes for a fortnight, have threatened to agitate if there is no control or reduction in rates.