NEW DELHI: The Rs 2.50 per litre relief given on retail fuel rates by way of an excise duty cut and subsidy has come to nought in just 10 days as prices continued to rise unabated. Monday’s price hike of 8 to 9 paise a litre has taken rates to Rs 75.46 per litre in New Delhi, a paisa more than what it was when finance minister Arun Jaitley announced the price cut on October 4.
The Centre had cut excise duty on fuel by Rs 1.50 per litre and had asked oil marketing companies (OMCs) to subsidise petrol and diesel prices by Rs 1 a litre. However, the retail selling price of diesel continued to rise after the excise duty cut was announced, and in the last 10 days it has increased by Rs 2.51 per litre in New Delhi.This is also the fastest increase in rates since oil firms implemented daily price revision in mid-June last year.
Similarly, in Chennai, diesel was selling at Rs 79.80 per litre on Monday, a paisa more than the October 4 price (Rs 79.79), while in Kolkata it was selling at Rs 77.31 as against Rs 77.30 on October 4. In Mumbai, however, the diesel price remained lower than the October 4 level as the state government had similarly reduced the duty. On Monday, diesel was selling at Rs 79.11 per litre in Mumbai as against the October 4 price of Rs 80.10 per litre.
While in Delhi and a few other states diesel prices are at their highest level, in most other states they are lower than the peak level as some state governments (mostly of the NDA) had matched the Centre’s move to cut excise duty and the oil companies’ subsidy by a cut in local sales tax or VAT. Meanwhile, petrol prices remained stagnant across the four metropolitan cities on Monday.
Petrol was selling at Rs 82.72 per litre in Delhi—an increase of Rs 1.22 per litre since October 4, when it was selling at Rs 84 per litre. In Mumbai, it was selling at Rs 88.18, in Chennai it was Rs 85.99, and in Kolkata it was Rs t84.54.The reduction in excise duty, the second in four years, wil
Centre’s revenues to take a hit
The reduction in excise duty, the second in four years of NDA rule, will dent the Centre’s revenues by J10,500 crore and was aimed at cooling retail prices.l dent the Centre’s revenues by Rs 10,500 crore. The Centre had raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 11.77 a litre and that on diesel by Rs 13.47 a litre in nine instalments between November 2014 and January 2016.