Petrol, Diesel Prices Hiked For The Second Day In A Row

The cost of the Indian basket of crude, comprising Oman, Dubai and Brent crude, was at $66.63 a barrel on Tuesday. It is to be noted that petrol and diesel prices are fixed on the basis of freight charges, local taxes, and VAT. Petrol and diesel prices vary from state to state due to taxations imposed by central and state governments.

The central and state taxes comprise 60 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol while more than 54 per cent for diesel. Centre levies Rs 32.90 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 31.80 a litre on diesel.

However, the state-run OMCs and the government have insisted the rates have not been impacted by the elections and there is no correlation between the two factors.

The government’ maintains the stance that it has got no role in pricing since the three government-run OMCs introduced dynamic fuel pricing, followed by the US and Australia, where fuel prices change daily depending on global oil price fluctuations.