The government on Monday hiked special additional excise duty on crude petroleum to Rs 7,100 per tonne with effect from August 15. In the last fortnightly review, windfall tax on domestically produced crude oil was set at Rs 4,250 per tonne.
This increase excludes local levies. The actual hike after considering VAT would be Rs 2.84 per litre in Delhi for petrol and Rs 2.11 for diesel.
Petrol price will go up Rs 3.73 a litre if the domestic prices are aligned with international rates.
The decision to hike petrol and diesel prices cannot be deferred for a very long time, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday.
No change in retail prices as oil marketing firms to absorb increase
The government is exploring various options, including a marginal hike in prices of petrol and diesel, and a possible duty cut to ease burden on state-run oil firms that are increasingly losing revenue due to global crude prices surging close to $100 a barrel. "We will do all that is possible to protect the interests of our PSUs," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said after a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue on Friday.
'In the luxury car segment, the adoption of EVs is almost double compared to the mass market.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that diesel prices too will be freed from government control as part of 'much-needed reforms', but LPG and kerosene will continue to be subsidised.
The Left parties on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a rollback in petroleum prices and said the Budget should conform with the Common Minimum Programme.
This is the fourth increase in rates in six weeks
About 410 petrol pumps in the national capital were to shut shop on Friday to protest against the hike in the VAT rate on diesel, which was driving vehicles to neighbouring Gurgaon for refueling.
Left parties on Monday opposed any increase in petrol and diesel prices in step with the hike in global oil prices and higher taxes, and asked the government to restructure duties to protect the consumers.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday witnessed uproar over the steep Rs 2.35 a litre hike in petrol price and 50 paisa a litre increase in cost of diesel.
The hike in petrol price was necessitated because of increase in prices of crude oil in the international market, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
The 17th daily increase in rates, since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision, has taken diesel prices to fresh highs.
The price of petrol was on Saturday hiked by a steep Rs 2 a litre, the second increase in rates this month, as devaluation of rupee against United States dollar made imports costlier.
The international crude oil price of Indian Basket was $60.10 (Rs 3,765.27) per barrel on December 15, down from $60.58 (3,782.62) per bbl on December 12.
Public sector oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will raise prices of petrol by 27 paise a litre, - for the first time since decontrolling petrol prices.
Hyderabad on Monday became the second metro city in the country to see petrol price crossing Rs 100 per litre mark after fuel prices were raised yet again. Petrol price was hiked by 29 paise per litre and diesel by 30 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The hike -- 24th in six weeks -- pushed fuel prices across the country to new historic highs. In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 96.41 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 87.28 per litre.
The average price of Indian basket of crude oil during 2007-08 (upto August) has increased to $68.34 per barrel as compared to 62.46 dollars a barrel during 2006-07.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the latest hike in fuel prices at a time when the economy is in its worst condition ever.
While RBI is still battling rising inflation, it now has the tough task of managing inflation in the light of increased petrol prices.
Sources say that this is a part of the government's efforts to mitigate the spurt in global oil prices.
TMC MPs were told about the problem in running an economy of India's size and the problems of public finance.
Between April-June 2016-17, the additional excise duty mop up on these two products stood at Rs 17,692 crore.
An increase in petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene prices looks "imminent" after the Finance Ministry said it has no money to provide for fuel subsidy.
Petrol, diesel prices hiked by Re 1/ litre
Following the increase, petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 68.64 a litre.
Govt may further hike excise on petrol, diesel before Budget.
Cooking gas price was on Saturday hiked by Rs 11.42 per cylinder following government decision to raise commission paid to the dealers.
If the present state of affairs continues, the tourism industry is likely to lose business worth Rs 10-20 crore per week.
Petrol and diesel price on Sunday was hiked again by 35 paise a litre and the auto fuels now cost a third more than the rate at which ATF is sold to airlines. The fourth straight day of 35 paise per litre hike sent petrol and diesel rates to record highs across the country. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 105.84 a litre and Rs 111.77 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
A party MP speaking on the condition of anonymity said that such steep hikes will be damaging for the party and that a number of MPs particularly those from Lok Sabha are "unhappy" with it as they will have a tough time in their constituencies explaining the move.
A hike in the prices of petrol and diesel is unlikely before June 15 as the Congress-led government does not want a showdown with its allies in the first session of Parliament beginning June 2.
The government has cut the windfall profit tax on crude oil produced in the country while the levy on exports of diesel and ATF has been hiked, an official notification said. The tax, levied in the form of special additional excise duty or SAED, on domestically produced crude oil was reduced to Rs 6,700 per tonne from Rs 7,100 a tonne. SAED on the export of diesel was increased to Rs 6 per litre from Rs 5.50 a litre and on jet fuel or ATF to Rs 4 per litre from Rs 2, the notification said.
Petrol and diesel prices on Wednesday were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, the third increase this week, propelling petrol price to cross Rs 100 per litre mark in more cities including Bhopal and Indore. Petrol and diesel prices are now at record high across the country, price notification of state-owned fuel retailers showed. In Delhi, petrol now comes for Rs 92.05 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 82.61. This was the third increase in prices this week and seventh hike since May 4 when the state-owned oil firms ended an 18-hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
Petrol price was on Wednesday hiked by a steep Rs 3.38 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.67 a litre, reversing a two-month declining trend.
New prices are effective tonight.
A hike in diesel and domestic LPG prices has been deferred for now, but an increase in petrol prices later this week looks imminent.
Petrol price inched towards the Rs 100-mark in Mumbai on Tuesday after fuel rates were hiked again. Petrol price was increased by 23 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The hike - 13th this month - pushed petrol and diesel prices to record-high levels across the country.
