Petrol and diesel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. (Representative image)
The petrol price in Chennai was reduced to Rs 99.47 per litre on August 14, a day after the Tamil Nadu government announced a tax cut of Rs 3 on the fuel, according to a price notification by state-owned fuel retailers.
The diesel price remained unchanged at record-high levels and sold at Rs 94.39 per litre in Chennai.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan announced the tax cut on August 13 while presenting the Revised Budget for 2021-22 to the Assembly.
“I am happy to inform the House that this government has decided to reduce the effective rate of tax on petrol by Rs 3 per litre and thereby provide major relief to the toiling working class people in the state. This measure will result in a loss of revenue of Rs.1,160 crore a year,” the finance minister said.
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However, the prices of petrol remain unchanged for 28th straight day in other parts of the country. The last increase took the petrol price in Delhi near Rs 102 per litre-mark. The petrol price in New Delhi soared to Rs 101.84 a litre. Diesel prices retailed at Rs 89.87 per litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s (IOCL) price listing.
In Mumbai, the petrol price remained unchanged and retailed at Rs 107.83 a litre. The financial hub, on May 29, became the first metro in the country where petrol was being sold for more than Rs 100 per litre.
Diesel price also remained the same being sold at Rs 97.45 per litre in Maharashtra’s capital.
The fuel prices remain unchanged in Kolkata, where a litre of petrol and diesel prices were Rs 102.08 and 93.02, respectively.
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Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges. Rajasthan levies the highest VAT on petrol and diesel in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The excise duty rates on petrol and diesel have been calibrated to generate resources for infrastructure building and other developmental expenditure keeping in view the prevailing fiscal situation, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on July 20.
Domestic fuel rates are benchmarked to international oil prices as India is 85 percent dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. International rates have surged since last month on a rebound in consumption. The relentless price increase has pushed petrol rates above the Rs 100-a-litre mark in most places in 15 states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Bihar and Punjab and at a couple of districts in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Tamil Nadu has now been removed from the list with the recent tax cut on petrol.
Rates are also above the sensitive Rs 100 per litre level in four Union Territories including Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Diesel, the most used fuel in the country, is above that level in some places in Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
(With inputs from PTI)
