Reportedly after a staying immovable for 82 days, the petrol and diesel prices are moving north again. For sixth consecutive day, prices went up on friday for both petrol and diesel. petrol became costlier by 57 paise and diesel by 59 paise a litre. Cumulatively, the petrol price has gone up by Rs 3.31 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.42 litre in Delhi. Similar increase in petrol and diesel prices has happened at other places.
The oil marketing companies have blamed the hike on increase in crude oil prices in the international markets. Crude oil is now selling around $40 a barrel, almost double the price it sold in May. However, when crude oil prices were falling in March-April, the oil companies did not pass on the benefit to the consumers. The government, instead, hiked the excise duties by Rs 10 on petrol and Rs 13 on diesel in May.
The companies said they would compensate under-recoveries, the government hoped to mop off Rs 1.6 lakh additional revenue. The companies also did not pass on the hiked tax burden on the consumers during lockdown. Now, the prices of petrol and diesel are rising. According to the price build-up statistics of the oil marketing companies, one litre of petrol costs a dealer Rs 18.28 in Delhi. With the fifth consecutive day hike, the retail price of petrol reached Rs 74 in Delhi. The gap is filled by excise duty by the Centre, dealer's commission and the VATs by the state government. Still, the companies say there is a difference of around Rs 4-5 between the cost and sale price of the fuels. This indicates that the oil prices will continue to rise. This also means the governments would be happier, particularly the state governments as they benefit from floating benefits of VAT charged in percentage.
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