New Delhi: Petrol prices witnessed the lifetime hike as the prices cross Rs 80 mark in the capital on the backdrop of 39 paise increase in the prices across the country. Diesel prices also went up by 44 paise sky-rocketing the prices to Rs 72.51 per litre in Delhi
A litre of petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 80.38 – a record high. It costs Rs 87.77 in Mumbai. Diesel is now priced at Rs 76.98 per litre in Mumbai.
Nationwide strikes have been announced by the opposition parties across the country next week over record-high fuel prices which they blame on high taxes imposed by the government.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had remained non-committal on cutting excise duty to cushion spiraling petrol and diesel prices, saying international oil prices are volatile and have not shown any linear movement.
Demand for cutting down the excise duty is raised by the demand as it said that it has been done by the previous government too when the international crude oil prices went up.
Central and state taxes contribute to about half in the total fuel prices. The upsurge in the prices has been since mid-August on the backdrop of increasing crude oil prices and depreciation in Indian Rupee against the US Dollar.
The Centre currently levies a total of Rs 19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 15.33 per litre on diesel. Apart from this, VAT (Value Added Tax) is being imposed by states. The lowest sales tax is in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which is about 6 per cent on both the fuel.
The highest VAT on petrol is levied in Mumbai which is 39.12 per cent whereas Telangana levies the highest VAT on diesel which is 26 per cent. The fuel prices are cheap in Delhi on the backdrop of lower sales tax. Notably, 27 per cent of VAT is imposed on petrol while 17.24 per cent on diesel.
