Petrol prices have remained static for the tenth consecutive day while diesel remained unchanged for 11 days in a row on Tuesday, July 27. Petrol prices had touched new high levels across the country on July 17 after rising by 30 paise, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer.
Today, a litre of petrol and diesel in the national capital is being retailed at Rs 101.84 and Rs 89.87, respectively. In Mumbai, a litre of petrol and diesel costs Rs 107.83 and Rs 97.45. Currently, fuel prices are highest in Mumbai among all metro cities.
Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri briefed the Lok Sabha on Monday about the rising fuel prices in India. He said the prices are determined by world market rates. Puri further said 85% of petroleum products are imported, and the price of petroleum products on the world market is determined by the countries producing and exporting them.
The hike on July 17 was the 41st price hike in petrol since May 4 when fuel rates started increasing after the elections. It was also the 9th hike of the month. The prices were hiked 16 times in June.
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, Tamil Nadu, 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 113.21 and diesel at 103.15 per litre. Petrol and diesel prices changes every day at 6 am on the basis of international crude prices and foreign exchange rates.
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.
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