Petrol, diesel rates touch all-time highs as oil-companies hike rates
What's the story
Petrol price today hit a record high of Rs. 76.24/liter in Delhi, while diesel rates touched record-high Rs. 67.57 as oil PSUs passed on four weeks of the relentless rise in international oil prices to consumers. In Delhi, petrol price increased 33 paise/liter, and diesel was hiked by 26 paise. Last time, petrol touched record-high of Rs. 76.06 on September 14, 2013. Here's more.
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Seventh straight hike since May 14
This is the seventh straight day of price increase since oil PSUs on May 14 resumed daily price revision after a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus. In all, petrol price has been raised by Rs. 1.61/liter and diesel by Rs. 1.64 in last one week.
Costliest, cheapest petrol
Petrol is costliest in Mumbai, while cheapest in Panjim
Rates of the fuel vary from state-to-state depending on local sales tax. Petrol is costliest in Mumbai at Rs. 84.07/liter due to high local taxes, while cheapest comes at Rs. 70.26 in Panjim. Other cities where petrol breached Rs. 80-mark are Bhopal (Rs. 81.83/liter), Patna (Rs. 81.73/liter), Hyderabad (Rs. 80.76/liter), and Srinagar (Rs. 80.35/liter). Petrol in Kolkata costs Rs. 78.91/liter and Chennai, Rs. 79.13/liter.
Costliest, cheapest diesel
Diesel is costliest in Hyderabad, while cheapest in Port Blair
Diesel is costliest in Hyderabad at Rs. 73.45/liter due to high local taxes, while cheapest is available in Port Blair at Rs. 63.35/liter. Other cities where diesel crossed Rs. 70-mark are Trivandrum (Rs. 73.34/liter), Raipur (Rs. 72.96/liter), Gandhinagar (Rs. 72.63/liter), Bhubaneswar (Rs. 72.43/liter), Patna (Rs. 72.24/liter), Jaipur (Rs. 71.97/liter), Ranchi (Rs. 71.35/liter), Srinagar (Rs. 70.96/liter), Mumbai (Rs. 71.94/liter), Kolkata (Rs. 70.12/liter), Chennai (Rs. 71.32/liter).
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Economic Affairs Secretary refuses to comment on excise duty cut
Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg refused to say if the government will cut excise duty on auto fuel to ease the burden on consumers. He said, "The government is watching the situation developing from oil prices hitting $80/barrel, the highest since November 2014."
Rise in excise duty
BJP government raised excise duty 9 times
The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times, totaling Rs. 11.77/liter on petrol and Rs. 13.47 on diesel, between November 2014 and January 2016, but then cut tax just once in October 2017 by Rs. 2/liter. The state-owned IOC, HPCL, and BPCL on Monday ended a 19-day hiatus in revising petrol and diesel prices that began on April 25 due to Karnataka elections.
Loss
Oil PSUs lost around Rs. 500 crore during 19-day hiatus
Oil PSUs are estimated to have lost about Rs. 500 crore on absorbing higher cost resulting from the spike in international oil rates and fall in rupee against the US dollar. The benchmark international rate for petrol, used for revising rate on April 24, had gone up from $78.84/barrel to $84.97 on May 14. It has further risen to $84.97.
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Rupee weakened to Rs. 67.27 per USD from Rs. 66.62
Similarly, benchmark international diesel rates during this period have climbed from $84.68 per barrel to $90.28 per barrel. Also, the rupee has weakened to Rs. 67.27 per USD from Rs. 66.62, making imports costlier.