Petrol and diesel prices scale new high, government cites falling value of rupee

With the rupee-dollar exchange rate dropping to an all-time low of Rs 71.42 to a dollar on August 31, India had to import 82 percent of its fuel requirements at a very high rate of around $77.06 today, thereby taking fuel prices to an all-time high of Rs 86.56 per litre for petrol and Rs 75.54 per litre for diesel in Mumbai.

In a PTI report, Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas blamed the ‘isolated’ policies of the US for the ‘abnormally’ rising fuel prices in the country. Due to sanctions on Tehran from the US, India had to reduce its imports from Iran, subsequently reducing the total fuel availability in the country. This came at a time when India’s crude oil imports from Iran had increased by 52 percent in June 2018. Iran is the third biggest producer in OPEC.

The output from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August to a 2018 high of 32.79 million bpd, a Reuters survey found. Trade disputes between the US and other major economies including China and the European Union are expected to hurt oil demand if they are not settled soon.

As per sources, the fuel prices have increased by around Rs 5 per litre in the past 7 months. The excise duty has remained unchanged for the past four months but the VAT applied on diesel today is Rs 10.12 per litre and that on petrol is Rs 16.42 per litre. This had also led to several transport unions to hold agitations in July and demand the government to bring petrol and diesel under the ambit of GST.

The beleaguered Indian motorist

The hapless Indian motorist continues to pay through his/her nose for pricey fuel which has been burning a big hole in their wallets for the past year or so. Not only that, but the abject condition of roads across the country during the ongoing monsoon season is also a contributory factor to motorists having to tank up more often.  

On the other hand, according to a government release, the majority of fuel refineries in the country had failed to meet the production targets in the month of July.

Crude Oil Production (in TMT) in July 2018

Note: Totals may not tally due to rounding off.                                       *: Provisional

TMT- Thousand Metric tonnes

(Table source PIB)

Diesel inches closer to petrol prices

The price differential between petrol and diesel in Mumbai has also reduced to one of the lowest of the year – at Rs 11.02 per litre, which means petrol cars seem to have as good an operational benefit as their diesel siblings.

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Fuel prices hit 55-month high: Rs 81.92 for a litre of petrol, Rs 69.50 for diesel

Petrol-diesel price differential narrows down to Rs 12 a litre

At Rs 84.40 a litre, petrol scales a new high in India, diesel too at Rs 72.21