On Friday, the eighth increase since 4 May, with this last revision in the price of pumping petrol to Rs 92.34 and diesel to Rs 82.95 a litre in the national capital, the new fuel rate broke yet another record. fuel price.
After a day’s pause, the upward movement of petrol and diesel rates resumed on Friday, with pumps raising prices by 29 paise and 34 paise per litre, respectively, making petrol costlier by 1.94% and diesel costlier by 2.22% in 11 days.
On Friday, the eighth increase since May 4, with the launch of the most recent price revision, fuel rates broke a new record, with oil prices being 0.91.34 litres for pumps and diesel prices at 0.62.95 litres per litre. While Delhi’s fuel prices are the national benchmark, retail prices for the two fuels vary by location due to differences in state taxes and local levies.
In places like Ganganagar (Rajasthan), Indore (Madhya Pradesh), and Parbhari (Madhya Pradesh), petrol prices have already surpassed Rs 100 per litre (Maharashtra).
To be sure, taxes account for a large portion of the retail price. For example, on May 14, central taxes accounted for 36.4 percent of the price of gasoline in Delhi, while state taxes accounted for 23 percent. The central levies on diesel are over 39%, while state taxes are around 15%. As global crude prices fell through 2020, the Central government increased fuel excise duty to shore up its finances. States followed suit, suffering revenue losses as a result of the pandemic.
Despite benchmark Brent crude falling 3.27 percent to $67.05 per barrel on Thursday and falling another 0.5 percent during intraday trade on Friday, state-run oil marketing companies raised auto fuel rates on Friday. In India, retail prices for gasoline and diesel are based on the previous day’s international rates. In the last three days, the average exchange rate for crude oil imports has remained stable at around 73.45 per dollar. Because India imports over 80% of the crude oil it processes and pays in dollars, international oil prices and the rupee-dollar exchange rate have an impact on domestic pump prices.
According to executives at state-run oil marketing companies, there are two main reasons for the recent spike in auto fuel prices: high international oil rates and the recovery of past revenue losses that companies suffered as a result of putting any upward price movement of the two politically sensitive fuels on hold for 66 days since February 27 due to assembly elections in four states and other factors. The Indian pump price rally began the day after the May 4 election results.
