On the rise for the last few weeks, petrol and diesel prices increased once again today by a few paise. On Ganesh Chaturthi day, petrol costs Rs 88.39 and diesel Rs 77.58 in Mumbai.
In Delhi, petrol costs Rs 81 and diesel Rs 73.08. In Bengaluru, the price of petrol is Rs 83.64 and that of diesel is Rs 75.43. In Hyderabad, petrol costs Rs 85.88 and diesel Rs 79.49. In Chennai, petrol costs Rs 84.19 and diesel Rs 77.25. In Kolkata, petrol costs Rs 82.87 and diesel Rs 74.93.
Several states have cut down VAT on petrol, diesel and others have hinted at doing it soon but the central government has stuck to its stand of not cutting down excise duty on the two fuels.
Ruling out any excise duty cut on petrol and diesel, a finance ministry official has said that the dependence on oil as a source of tax revenue has to be brought down and this can only happen when the share of non-oil tax to GDP goes up.
It is being believed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the excise duty rates this weekend at a meeting to analyse the health of the economy. Among other topics, the issue of rising oil prices is also likely to be featured in the meeting.
Pressure is building up on the Modi government to ease excise duty after the Congress called for a Bharat bandh and some state governments also cut VAT. Despite the continuous spike in petrol and diesel rates, prices of fruits, vegetables and other food items are yet to become a major issue. According to the latest government figures, retail inflation is now at a 10-month low of 3.69%.