Petrol And Diesel Prices Soar To Record High

Amid increasing global crude prices, the Oil Ministry Of India announced that diesel rates in India is on a record high, while the petrol prices are on a four-year high. According to prices released by Indian Oil, the price of non-branded petrol was hiked by 11-13 paise per litre in metro cities on Tuesday while diesel was increased by 13-14 paise. Petrol retailed at Rs. 73.95 in Delhi, while it was at Rs. 76.66 in Kolkata, Rs. 81.8 in Mumbai and Rs. 76.72 in Chennai. This increase is the highest since September 2013, when rates hit Rs. 76. The diesel rates touched an all-time high of Rs. 64.69 in Delhi, while it touched Rs. 67.51 in Kolkata, Rs. 69.02 in Mumbai and Rs. 68.38 in Chennai.

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Yesterday, at the launch of Euro-VI grade petrol and diesel in Delhi, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government is keeping a close watch at the international prices, and ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty. Moreover, he also said that consumers will benefit if petrol and diesel are brought under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime at the earliest.

The government had raised excise duty 9 times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs. 2 a litre. The October 2017 excise duty cut costed the government Rs. 26,000 crore in annual revenue.

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State-owned oil companies like Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation have dumped the practice of revising rates on the 1st and 16th of every month. Instead, they adopted a daily price revision system to instantly reflect changes in cost.