Dharmendra Pradhan clarified on increasing prices of petrol and diesel, said – government has no control on fuel prices
Harleen Kaur Grewal
New Delhi, February 20, 2021: Elaborating on the steady increase in petrol and diesel, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government is in no state to reduce the tax on petrol and diesel because the price change depends on international prices and it is the petroleum companies that fix rates. In response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that looking at the last 300 days, prices have increased.
In the last one year, the price of petrol has increased by about Rs 18 a liter. In Delhi on Wednesday, the price of petrol in Delhi rose to a record 87.60/litre. Last week, Dharmendra Pradhan had told in Rajyabha that the central government levies an excise duty of Rs 32.98 per liter on petrol, after which state governments levy Rs 19.55 as VAT. Central government levies excise duty of Rs 31.83 per liter on diesel and state governments levy Rs 10.99 as VAT.
On the other hand, the demand for oil has increased with the induction of Coronavirus vaccine worldwide and the introduction of vaccination, due to which Brent crude oil prices on Monday exceeded $60 per barrel for the first time in the last 1 year. Today, the price of petrol increased by 30 paise per liter and diesel by 25 paise per liter. With this increase, the price of petrol in Delhi was Rs 87.60 per liter and in Mumbai it was Rs 94.12 per liter. In Delhi, the price of diesel rose to Rs 77.73 per liter and in Mumbai the price reached a high of Rs 84.63. In the international market, the price of crude oil has exceeded $61 per barrel for the first time in the last one year.
Responding to questions in Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the Center has increased excise duty and states have increased value-added tax (VAT). He said that the central government has also reduced prices. The minister told the House that the prices of petrol and diesel have been market-determined in June 2010 and October 2014 respectively.
