166 per cent rise in petrol price in 6 years, while crude oil became two and a half times cheaper, find out the reason for rising prices

New Delhi, Monday 29 June 2020

Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise, with diesel prices rising 13 per cent to a new high of Rs 80.53 per liter on Monday.

This means that after June 7, the price of diesel has gone up by Rs 11.14 per liter. The price of petrol has also gone up by Rs 9.17, compared to May 2014, where petrol has gone up by 166 per cent in six years.

In contrast, the price of crude oil has become 2.5 times cheaper. After this increase, the price of petrol in Delhi has reached Rs 80.43 per liter and the price of diesel has reached Rs 80.53 per liter. Find out the reason behind the increase in petrol-diesel prices.

On April 28, the price of crude oil in the Indian basket fell to just 16 16.19 a barrel, while in April, the average price for the whole month fell to 19 19.9 a barrel.

This was followed by a rise in crude oil prices, reaching an average of 30 30.60 in May, where it reached .6 40.66 on June 25.

That is, the price of crude oil has doubled in just two months, as demand for crude has risen since the lockdown was lifted. There has been no increase in petrol and diesel rates till June 6.

But since June 7, petrol and diesel prices have started catching fire and the total price of diesel has gone up by Rs 11.14 per liter in the last three weeks. During this period, petrol prices have risen by a total of Rs 9.17.

Corona behind the rise in oil prices

The Corona epidemic forced the government to raise excise taxes on petrol and diesel. Not only that, but the revenue from taxes is also declining sharply. Collection of GST and service tax has also declined sharply.

The tax burden increased

As on April 1, the total excise duty on petrol was Rs 22.98 per liter. Currently the excise duty is 32.98 liters per. The total excise duty on diesel was Rs 18.83 per liter, which is now Rs 31.83 per liter.

The central government has increased excise duty on petrol and diesel by 10 and 13 liters per liter, respectively, for the treasury emptied by the Koro epidemic and lockdown, while state governments have also increased VAT, which has not benefited the common man.

In May 2014, petrol was priced at Rs 47.12 and diesel at Rs 44.98 per liter

In May 2014, crude oil prices averaged 10 106.85 a barrel. At that time, petrol in Delhi was Rs 47.12 and diesel Rs 44.98 per liter. At the same time, the central government's excise duty was Rs 10.39 per liter on petrol and Rs 4.50 per liter on diesel.

Immediately after the fall in oil prices in the second half of 2014, the government increased the tax on fuel. It then became the government's tradition that crude oil became cheaper and the government used this formula to raise taxes.