Petrol price nears ₹ 90 per litre in Erode

The surge in petrol price that nears ₹ 90 a litre is a matter of concern for motorists as they urge the government to cut excise duty on petrol and reduce the price.

On December 1, 2020, the price of petrol stood at ₹ 85.97 per litre in the district that increased to ₹ 87.17 on January 1, 2021 and to ₹ 89.31 per litre on February 1. “Price of petrol has reached all-time high causing hardship to the motorists and two-wheelers”, said N. Purusothaman, an executive at a private company. He said that dependency on two-wheelers has increased in the past six months during the COVID-19 pandemic as buses and other modes of transportation are not available frequently. “Spending on fuel has increased at least by 2% to 5% in the past one month,” he said and pointed to the reduction in salary due to the pandemic.

In the absence of adequate buses, mostly in hilly areas, people depend more on their own vehicles for commuting and point out the hardship faced by them due to additional spending on petrol. “Though oil marketing companies keep increasing the price of fuel, the government can cut the duties and pass on the benefit to the common people who are yet to recover from the pandemic”, said T. Vignesh of Kollampalayam. He said that the price of essential commodities and household items had increased during the pandemic while the salary was reduced by private organisations and institutions.