Fuel prices remained unchanged on June 2 days after the government announced an excise duty cut on petrol by a record Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre on May 21.
The excise duty cut translated into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre for petrol in Delhi and Rs 7 a litre for diesel. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 96.72 a litre as against Rs 105.41 a litre before while diesel costs Rs 89.62 a litre as opposed to Rs 96.67 earlier.
In Mumbai, one litre of petrol costs Rs 111.35 and diesel Rs 97.28. In Chennai, petrol and diesel prices are Rs 102.63 and Rs 94.24 per litre respectively. In Kolkata, petrol is Rs 106.03 and diesel is Rs 92.76 per litre.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) are passing on the excise duty cut to consumers despite losing Rs 13.08 a litre on petrol and Rs 24.09 per litre on diesel. India meets 80 percent of its oil needs through imports.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 22 said the reduction in central taxes on petrol and diesel has been in road and infrastructure cess that is not shared with states, dismissing opposition's criticism that the move will impact states' share in central revenues.
Sitharaman has also announced that the government would provide a subsidy of Rs 200 per LPG cylinder to over nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Meanwhile, the prices of 19-kg commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders have been slashed today by Rs 135 each in the four metro cities across the country, according to ANI. Each of the commercial LPG cylinders will now cost Rs 2,219 in Delhi as against Rs 2,355.50 earlier.