The prices of petrol and diesel were reduced on Sunday, a day after the Centre announced that it was slashing the excise duty on these fuels by Rs 8 and Rs 6 per litre.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the move will reduce the price of petrol by Rs 9.5 per litre and diesel by Rs 7 a litre in a bid to protect consumers from rising prices amid high inflation.
With Sunday’s revision, petrol now costs Rs 96.72 per litre in New Delhi, while diesel will be sold at Rs 89.62 per litre, according to CNBC-TV18. In Mumbai, a litre of petrol is priced at Rs 111.35 and diesel is at Rs 97.28.
Similarly, in Kolkata, petrol and diesel prices cost Rs 106.85 and Rs 92.76, according to News18. The price of petrol in Chennai is Rs 102.63, while diesel cost Rs 94.24.
Fuel prices vary in states due to different value-added tax and freight charges.
The prices of petrol and diesel were last increased by 80 paise a litre each on April 6. Since the revision in fuel prices began on March 22, petrol and diesel rates were increased by Rs 10 per litre.
The revision in fuel prices had resumed 12 days after Assembly elections results were announced for Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and Punjab. Prior to that, fuel rates had been on a freeze since November 4.
On Saturday, while making the announcement to reduce fuel prices, Sitharaman had said that the government will lose Rs 1 lakh crore in annual revenue.
“I wish to exhort all state governments, especially the states where reduction wasn’t done during the last round [November 2021], to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man,” she had said.
Sitharaman also announced that a subsidy of Rs 200 per gas cylinder will be given this year to more than 9 crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. The decision will have a revenue implication of Rs 6,100 crore a year, she added.
Soon after the announcement to slash fuel prices was made, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the decisions, particularly the one about excise duty on fuel, would have a positive impact on several sectors and provide relief to citizens. “It is always people first for us,” he added.
Modi hailed the decision on the Ujjwala scheme, saying it “will greatly ease family budgets”.
However, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said that the excise duty on petrol in May 2014, when the Modi-led government came to power, was Rs 9.48 per litre. He added that the excise duty before the latest announcement was Rs 27.90 per litre.
“You increased excise on petrol by Rs 18.42 per litre and now reduced it by Rs 8 per litre,” Surjewala wrote on Twitter. “It is still Rs 19.90 vs Rs 9.48 during Congress [rule].”
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan said that the “exorbitant increase” in taxes has been only partially reduced.
“It is pertinent to point out that the Union had never consulted the states when they increased the taxes on petrol and diesel multiple times,” Rajan wrote in a tweet. “The exorbitant increase in taxes by the Union government has been only partially reduced through their cuts and the taxes continue to be high as compared to the 2014 rates.”
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that his government will consider whether to further slash reduce fuel tax. “The decision [Centre’s] has come on Saturday night, let’s see, we will consider it,” Bommai told reporters, according to PTI.
Fuel prices have been one of the major factors in the rise in India’s inflation levels. India’s retail inflation rose to an eight-year high of 7.79% in April. Meanwhile, the price rise indicator in wholesale markets was at 15.08% in April. It has now remained in double digits for 13 consecutive months.
Also read: How will the age of inflation change Indian politics?
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