BHUBANESWAR: People of the state from Saturday morning will have to pay an extra Rs 2.56 per litre of petrol and diesel owing to the increase in cess and duty on fuel in the Union Budget 2019-20.
Prices of petrol and diesel per litre were Rs 69.55 and Rs 69 respectively in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
The hike will come into effect from 6 am on Saturday.
The Centre’s decision to increase special additional excise duty and road cess each by Rs 1 per litre of petrol and diesel, however, has not gone down well with the people of the state. It will add burden on the common man, they stated.
Employee of a city-based private firm Pyari Mohan Mohanty said people with meagre salaries face the brunt of rising fuel prices.
“I travel 40 km to 50 km daily on motorcycle and my petrol consumption per day is one litre. The rise in fuel prices will hit people like me hard,” he added.
Smruti Ranjan Singh, a government employee, said hike in fuel prices will affect essential commodities.
Transportation costs will increase leading to rise in prices of essential commodities, thereby affecting the common man.
Staffer of another private company Jayant Choudhury said skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel have become a major cause of concern for middle-class families.
"With increasing fuel prices, I think the only option left for the middle class is to switch to electric vehicles. More companies should start manufacturing electric vehicles for the benefit of people and to control the rising level of air pollution,” he added.
Auto-rickshaw driver Kruthartha Parida said they are forced to increase the fares when fuel prices are hiked.
“Passengers often do not understand this and start fighting with us over the rising fares,” he said.
The farmers associations also expressed disappointment over the levy on fuel prices.
“The cropping season is going on. There are around 36 lakh farmers in Odisha and many of them use tractors and diesel generators. The hike in fuel prices is a big setback for them,” said national convenor of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan Akhay Kumar.
Secretary general of All India Petroleum Dealers’ Association Sanjay Lath told TNIE that special additional excise duty and road cess on petrol and diesel was hiked by Rs 1 per litre each.
"Central and state governments are collecting basic excise duty on petrol and diesel. This apart, the Union Government collects special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess on petrol and diesel,” he stated.