Auto fuel prices held static across the country on August 21. While diesel prices were unchanged after three consecutive cuts, petrol held stable for 34 days in a row.
Petrol prices in Delhi were unchanged at Rs 101.84, while diesel was at Rs 89.27 per litre. In Mumbai, a litre of petrol and diesel was at Rs 107.83 and Rs 96.84 respectively. Currently, fuel prices are highest in Mumbai among all metro cities.
In Kolkata, a litre of petrol and diesel prices were Rs 102.08 and 92.32, respectively. Petrol prices in Chennai was at Rs 99.47 per litre, while diesel was at Rs 93.84 per litre.
City | Petrol (Rs/Litre) | Diesel (Rs/Litre) |
Delhi | 101.84 | 89.27 |
Mumbai | 107.83 | 96.84 |
Kolkata | 102.08 | 92.32 |
Chennai | 99.47 | 93.84 |
Bengaluru | 105.25 | 94.65 |
Hyderabad | 105.83 | 97.33 |
Bhopal | 110.20 | 98.05 |
Patna | 104.25 | 95.01 |
Lucknow | 98.92 | 89.61 |
Jaipur | 108.71 | 98.39 |
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan (PTR) has announced that cess on petrol will be slashed by Rs 3 and it would help in bringing down the skyrocketing prices. Thiagarajan added that this was done as per the instructions of chief minister MK Stalin and this reduction in cess will cost the state treasury close to Rs 1,160 crore. Petrol prices have been hiked for 41 days in the current fiscal.
Petrol prices have already crossed the Rs 100-mark in more than 20 states and union territories – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Manipur, Ladakh, Bihar, Punjab and others. Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan has the costliest petrol and diesel in the country with petrol selling at Rs 114.06 and diesel at 103.54 per litre.
In India, petrol and diesel prices depend on various factors like valuation of Indian Rupee(INR) against US Dollar(USD), consumption ratio of refineries and demand for fuel. The fuel prices are revised by oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum based on international crude prices and foreign exchange rates. Petrol and diesel prices get revised in India every day at 6 am.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. Central and state taxes make up for 60% of the retail selling price of petrol and over 54% of diesel. The union government levies Rs 32.90 per litre of excise duty on petrol. Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh.