While petrol costs Rs 85.66 a litre in Kolkata, Rs 84.51 in Bengaluru and Rs 87.16 in Chennai, diesel prices moved to Rs 77.11, Rs 75.64 and Rs 79.55 in these cities. In Maharashtra, petrol rates in some districts have even crossed Rs 92 mark making it the highest in the country. As per the data released by the oil marketing companies, petrol prices have witnessed a hike of 8 per cent while diesel rates have gone up by 10 per cent since August 1, 2018.
Petroleum products still does not fall under the ambit of the new goods and services (GST) tax and the changes in rates depend upon global factors and different value added tax (VAT) structure of each state. Fuel prices in Delhi are cheapest across the country due to low taxes whereas rates in Mumbai are highest. Maharashtra imposes as much as 25 per cent VAT on petrol in Mumbai and an additional surcharge of Rs 9 for a litre across the state.
Not just petrol and diesel but even petroleum products including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices were increased on Sunday. LPG prices were hiked by Rs. 2.89 per cylinder to Rs. 502.4 per cylinder and the non-subsidised LPG costs at Delhi were increase by Rs. 59.00 per cylinder for October 2018.
As per the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the hike in LPG rates was made mainly due to change in international price and foreign exchange fluctuations. “The actual impact on subsidised domestic LPG customers is only Rs. 2.89 per cylinder, which is mainly due to GST on the above,” news agency PTI quoted IOC as saying.