Diesel prices in India hit an all-time high, petrol at a 4-year high
02 Apr 2018
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Diesel prices hit an all-time high of Rs64.69 per litre in the national capital today, while petrol prices zoomed to a four-year high of Rs73.83 per litre with state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) citing an increase in the global prices of crude oil and to passing on the increase in costs to domestic consumers through their daily rate revision mechanism.
In Mumbai, diesel is now selling at Rs68.89 per litre while in Kokata it costs Rs67.38 per litre and in Chenni Rs68.24 a litre.
Petrol now costs Rs81.69 in Mumbai, Rs76.54 in Kolkata and Rs76.59 in Chennai.
The uptrend in the retail fuel market is likely to put pressure on the government to prune taxes, which account for nearly half the price of petrol and diesel.
Retail prices of petrol and diesel in India are among Southeast Asia’s highest. The uptrend in the retail fuel market is likely to put pressure on the government to prune taxes, which account for nearly half the price of petrol and diesel.
Oil market seems to have ignored the uncertainties arising from an oversupply due to US share gas production. However, the rising trend in fuel prices could undermine growth prospects of countries like India, which heavily depend on imports to meet their crude oil requirements.
The government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up sagging government revenue amidst falling global prices of oil. It had since reduced excise duty by Rs2 a litre last October to defuse inflationary pressure.
The oil ministry had, earlier this year, sought a reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel to neutralise the impact of increasing global prices, but finance minister Arun Jaitley didn’t announce any such measure in Budget 2018.
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