The prices of petrol were increased 78 times while diesel rates were increased 76 times in Delhi during the financial year 2021-’22, the Centre told Parliament on Monday.
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Gas Rameswar Teli made the statement in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question by Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha.
Teli also said that petrol prices in 2021-’22 were decreased seven times, while diesel prices were reduced ten times.
The minister also told the Rajya Sabha that from April 1, 2021, to July 18 this year, the petrol cost in Delhi has increased by 6.8%, while the price of diesel has risen by 10.8%.
Commenting on the minister’s statement, Chadha said that rising prices of petrol and diesel have a cascading effect on the prices of other commodities, ANI reported.
“The Centre made Rs 16 lakh crore through the excise duty imposed on fuel between 2016 and 2022,” he said. “The Centre doesn’t even want to address inflation in Parliament.”
Meanwhile, in response to a separate question by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, Teli said that the cost of a 14.2-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas cylinder in Delhi increased from Rs 706.50 on April 1, 2019, to Rs 1,053 on July 6 this year.
The minister also said that the Union government provided subsidy of Rs 24,172 crore on LPG cylinders in 2019-’20 and Rs 11,896 crore in 2020-’21. According to provisional data, the government provided a subsidy of Rs 242 crore on LPG cylinders in 2021-’22.
“The prices of petroleum products in the country are linked to the price of respective products in the international market,” Teli said. “However, the Government continues to modulate the effective price to consumer for domestic LPG.”
Fuel prices constitute an important factor behind retail inflation. In June, country-wide inflation in fuel and light had risen by 10.39%, according to government data. Retail inflation as a whole fell marginally to 7.01% in June from 7.04% in May, the data showed.
Retail inflation had climbed to 7.79% in April – the highest in eight years.
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