Petrol price, diesel price may see big drop in India soon. Here are the details

Petrol and diesel prices in the country may see a big drop soon in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which will take place across the country in the months of April and May of 2024. It has been reported that the final nod for a price cut in petrol and diesel is awaited from the Union Finance Ministry.

A report by News18 highlighted that the final green signal for a price cut in the region of around ₹10 per litre on both petrol and diesel will soon come from the Union Finance Ministry. The previous price cut on both petrol and diesel came nearly tw years ago when there was a reduction in Central Excise Policy by ₹8 and ₹6, respectively.

Petrol and diesel prices in the country have remained unchanged over the past several years. Prices of both automotive fuel vary from state to state because each state government imposes different amount of taxes and cess. In Delhi, for example, a litre of petrol is at ₹96.71 while a litre of diesel is at ₹89.62. But in Mumbai, the prices of petrol and diesel are at ₹106.31 and ₹92.78, respectively.

Petrol prices, in fact, have been in three figures in many states across the country. The rates had even reached ₹110 per litre at a point in time when fluctuations in the market caused by the Covid pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war led to a rise in crude oil prices. At present, however, global crude prices have taken a tumble and could allow for a price cut within the domestic Indian market.

A Reuters report higlights that oil prices are likely to end 2023 at about 10 per cent lower and that this will be the first annual decline in around two years. Brent crude futures were at $77.63 on Friday, the last trading day of the calendar year. And while there have been production cuts by many of the oil producing countries across the globe, this had hardly helped to increase prices.