Petrol and diesel prices fall further after second cut in a row

Petrol and diesel prices were cut on Thursday, bringing petrol down to ₹90.78 a litre and diesel to ₹81.10 per litre in Delhi. In the second cut in a row, this week, per litre petrol and diesel prices were brought down by 21 paise and 20 paise respectively in the national capital.

In metro cities across India, the change in prices of petrol and diesel from yesterday’s prices range between 18-21 paise for petrol and 20-22 paise for diesel.

After Thursday’s price cut, per litre of petrol in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata are retailing at ₹97.19, ₹92.77 and ₹90.98 respectively. For diesel, the retail prices for a litre in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata are ₹88.20, ₹86.10 and ₹83.98 respectively.

On Wednesday petrol and diesel prices were slashed for the first time after March 16, 2020, following a decline in international crude prices due to the slump in demand in the light of resurging Covid-19 cases and increasing restrictions on mobility across various countries in Europe.

In recent times, the petrol and diesel prices were increased massively, especially since early February after the Union Budget 2021. The key reason behind the unprecedented price hike was the surging cost of crude oil in the international market, due to the demand recovery and extended production cut by the oil-producing countries in the OPEC+ group.

Apart from that, the high excise duty imposed by the central government too played a crucial role in the price hike for both motor fuels. The retail price of petrol and diesel include central excise duty, state government’s VAT and dealer commission. While some of the state governments have announced marginal tax cuts to reduce the burden of the motorists and common people, the central government has denied reducing the excise duty.

Meanwhile, there are demands to bring the motor fuels under the GST ambit, which would bring uniformity in fuel prices. However, there is any decision to be made yet.