Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday claimed that the prices of petrol and diesel, which have surged to rates as high as Rs 100 in several cities, will “come down a little” once winter ends, reported ANI. The minister attributed the rise in fuel prices to an increase in demand during the season.
“Increase in petroleum price in international market has affected consumers too,” Pradhan told the news agency. “Prices will come down a little as winter goes away. It is an international matter, price is high due to increase in demand, it happens in winter. It will come down as the season ends.”
Petrol and diesel prices, which have been soaring over the past few weeks, have remained steady for three consecutive days, reported NDTV. Petrol cost Rs 90.93 in Delhi, while the price of diesel was Rs 81.32 on Friday. In Mumbai, petrol was priced at Rs 97.34, while diesel cost Rs 88.44.
States such as Rajasthan, Nagaland, West Bengal and Assam have cut taxes on fuel to provide some relief to the people.
As per an analysis by BloombergQuint, the key factor for costlier petrol and diesel are taxes that account for about 55% to 60% of what consumers pay at the petrol pump. In the last year, the two fuels have turned costlier by Rs 17.35 and Rs 15 a litre, respectively.
Opposition parties have blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for the exorbitant fuel prices, accusing it of raising taxes to scoop out the benefit reaped from international oil rates plunging to a two-decade low in April and May. They have been accusing the government of profiting off the suffering of people.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week blamed earlier governments for the skyrocketing fuel prices. He claimed that if the previous governments had focussed on reducing the country’s energy import dependence, the middle class would not have been this burdened today.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre and states should talk to each other about reducing taxes on fuel. Earlier in the day, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das had also said that the Centre and states needed to act in a coordinated manner to reduce taxes on petrol and diesel.
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