On Sunday, Oil marketing companies hiked prices of petrol by over Rs 5 per liter of fuel, marking it the steepest hike ever. This increase marks it the 8th time petrol has been made dearer for the common man since it was deregulated in June 2010. This hike means that a common man is shelling out 50% more from his pocket of what he paid when he was two years younger.
Diesel and LPG are set to follow suit. Ironically, according to oil companies, they are still loosing over Rs 5 per liter on Petrol and if the international crude prices do not come down, let us all expect another hike not many months hereafter.
Government maintains that it doesn’t have any hand in petrol pricing. But it is a big question why the decision was deferred till the result of assembly elections in 5 states was declared. Petrol prices which we pay per liter not only constitute the cost of petrol but various taxes linked to it. In fact price of Petrol is around Rs 36 per liter and the rest are:
- Basic Custom Duty
- Additional Custom Duty
- Central Excise Duty
- Transportation cost
- Education Cess
- Dealer Commission etc
Now the big question is- Cannot the government rid Petrol off these add-ons rather than putting the complete burden on the common man? Consumption of Petrol is around 1.1 to 1.2 million tones per month. All these hikes have created a whooping difference of Rs 25 between Diesel and Petrol. According to one news, petrol is now costlier than aviation fuel!
Apart from the direct hit, common man will be hurt by indirect means as well. Recently heard, Pune Auto Rickshaw Union has demanded an immediate exorbitant hike. Some have even started to take higher fares. Similar is the case with other cities as well. Diesel and LPG are almost ready for hikes as well, as the government tries to postpone these vote-churner fuels.
Price of Petrol in various places of India:
- Delhi: 63.37 from 58.37
- Mumbai: 68.33 from 63.08
- Kolkata: 67.71 from 62.50
- Chennai: 67.22 from 61.83
- Pune: 68.51 from 63.18
Its also one fact that fuel is getting costlier the world over because of rising crude prices in the international market and we are not the only sufferers.
– Saad Khan
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