- Weak rupee to blame
- Govt refuses to cut excise duty to relieve burden
The good news is, the price of petrol and diesel hasn’t been hiked today. The bad news is, it still leaves them at record highs, after hikes over the last ten days.
The reason for the hike is the weakening of the rupee against the dollar. It went to a record low of 71.37. As only twenty per cent of our crude oil is now imported from Iran (thanks to sanctions) that is only component that India pays for in rupees, having to pay for everything else in US Dollars. The government has refused to cut excise duty on the fuel, which would have been one way of reducing the price for the consumer. Around half of the price the consumer pays for fuel is made up of taxes and duties, both central and state-level.
This leaves prices at Rs 79.31 per litre of petrol in Delhi, Rs 86.72 in Mumbai, Rs 82.41 in Chennai, and Rs 82.22 in Kolkata. Diesel rates are Rs 71.34 in Delhi, Rs 75.74 in Mumbai, Rs 75.79 in Chennai and Rs 74.19 in Kolkata (all prices per litre).
