New Delhi, (6/7/2019): A day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to increase excise duty on fuels, petrol and diesel prices rose by at least Rs 2.4 and Rs 2.36 a litre respectively across metro cities on Saturday.
Following the hike,a litre of petrol will now cost 72.96 per litre in Delhi, while diesel will be sold at 66.69 per litre in the national capital. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold at Rs. 78.57 while in Kolkata it is retailing at Rs. 75.15 per litre.
In Chennai, the retail price of petrol price was increased by Rs 3.01 to Rs 75.76, from Rs 73.19 recorded on Friday. Diesel costs Rs 70.48, a Rs 2.52 hike over yesterday’s price of Rs 67.96 per litre.
“I propose to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each one by 1 rupee a litre on petrol and diesel,” Sitharaman stated
Crude prices have softened from their highs. This gives me a room to review excise duty and cess on petrol,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said explaining the rationale behind increasing the excise and cess on petrol and diesel.
The retail prices of petrol and diesel are cheapest in Delhi among all metros and most state capitals due to lower taxes. Tax collection on petrol and diesel is one of the biggest source of revenue for the government and it accounts for more than a third of the retail fuel prices.
