Fuel price hike update Day 16: Petrol and diesel prices hiked by 33 paise and 58 paise respectively
Fuel prices continue to soar high as the new update has made petrol and diesel more expensive by 33 paise and 58 paise respectively. This has made petrol Rs. 79.56 per litre (from Rs 79.23) and diesel Rs 78.55 per litre (from Rs 78.27) in Delhi. In terms of cumulative numbers, the total hike in petrol and diesel prices in these 16 days have been increased by Rs 8.30 per litre and by Rs 9.46 per litre respectively.
Petrol and diesel prices in Mumbai, as per today's update, stand at Rs 86.36 per litre and Rs 77.24 pet litre while that in Chennai are Rs 82.87 per litre and Rs 76.30 per litre and in Kolkatta, Rs 81.27 per litre and Rs 74.14 respectively. The government has hiked the prices across the country, which will be different at different states depending on the local taxes and VAT applied. Between March 16 and June 6, oil companies across the country had frozen the price hikes. As a measure to counter the losses due to the ongoing pandemic, the government had hiked the excise duty on both petrol and diesel prices, by Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 litre on diesel. Initially, the oil companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) had absorbed the hike, however, from June 7 onward the fuel prices were hiked on a daily basis.
The recent hike in fuel prices are in line with that done in 2018, when the peak price of petrol in Delhi had touched Rs 84 per litre while that of diesel was Rs 75.69 per litre. This had forced the government to reduce the excise duty on fuel by Rs 1.50 per litre, also making the oil companies further absorb Rs 1, to bring the total cost down by Rs 2.50. However, the following year, government increased the excise duty by Rs 2 per litre. Even the oil companies continued to charge Rs 1 more.
The automobile industry, that was already facing the difficulties of slow sales and shutting operations due to the ongoing pandemic will now also face more challenges with rising fuel prices. Further, the costs of transportation and logistics too are expected to increase, which will also affect the prices of essential goods that will further affect the common man.
