Petrol Price Above Rs. 80, Diesel Costliest in Delhi
NEW DELHI : Petrol and diesel rates were further hiked across the four metro cities on Saturday after recording the steepest ever rise on Friday. This means that fuel prices hit further record highs on Saturday.
Petrol and diesel prices, which are raised on a daily basis according to global crude oil prices and the movement of the rupee against the US dollar, were raised between 38 paise and 49 paise across New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, according to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
On Friday, petrol and diesel rates were hiked by about 50 paisa per litre each – the steepest increase in prices since daily price revision came into effect over 14 months back, stated a report by news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). This had pushed petrol and diesel prices to their highest ever levels on Friday, stated the PTI report.
(Petrol, diesel rates on September 8, 2018 in four metro cities)A litre of petrol now costs Rs. 80.38 in New Delhi, Rs. 83.27 in Kolkata, Rs. 87.77 in Mumbai, and Rs. 83.56 in Chennai, according to IOC’s website. A litre of diesel costs Rs. 72.51 in New Delhi – the highest ever. In Kolkata, diesel is priced at Rs. 75.36/ litre, in Mumbai Rs. 76.98/ litre, and in Chennai Rs. 76.66/ litre, stated iocl.com.
Meanwhile, a local from Mumbai urged the government to intervene in the matter, stated a report by news agency Asian News International (ANI). “The way the prices are increasing with each passing day, it seems that it would cross Rs. 100 per litre. It’s only the common man who is getting affected due to this. The government should take some steps and do something about it,” he told ANI.
On Friday, Brent crude futures were down 34 cents at $76.16 a barrel by 1346 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 64 cents to $67.13 per barrel, stated a report by news agency Reuters. The rupee closed higher by 26 paise at 71.73 against the US dollar, snapping its seven-session losing streak.
On Friday, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the ongoing fuel price hike in the country is mainly due to the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.
“The fuel price hike mainly is due to the depreciation of rupee against the dollar. Petrol and diesel should come under the purview GST and I accept that people are facing problems. Once petrol and diesel are brought are GST, everyone will be benefited,” Pradhan said, according to a report by ANI. Petrol and diesel prices do not come under the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Pradhan also said that the political situations in countries like Iran, Venezuela and Turkey have impacted the production of crude oil. “The oil-producing countries like Iran, Venezuela, and Turkey had earlier said they would increase productivity but haven’t done so despite the promise. This has impacted the production of crude oil,” he added.
The Centre currently levies a total of Rs. 19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs. 15.33 per litre on diesel. On top of this, states levy Value Added Tax (VAT) – the lowest being in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where a 6 per cent sales tax is charged on both the fuels.
Mumbai has the highest VAT of 39.12 per cent on petrol, while Telangana levies the highest VAT of 26 per cent on diesel. Delhi charges a VAT of 27 per cent on petrol and 17.24 per cent on diesel. (With agencies inputs)
