A day after the Centre announced a cut in excise duty on fuel to control inflation, petrol and diesel prices dropped to nearly a two-month low in the tricity.
In Chandigarh, where the fuel rates remain cheapest, petrol was available for ₹96.20 per litre and diesel for ₹84.26, a drop of ₹8.54 and ₹6.57 per litre, respectively, as compared to the prices on Saturday. In Mohali, petrol cost ₹97.21 and diesel ₹87.53, a drop of ₹8.38 and ₹6.7, respectively.
Fuel remains the most expensive in Panchkula, with petrol at ₹97.82 and diesel at ₹90.65, though down by ₹8.67 and ₹7.05, respectively.
Explaining the difference between the drop in rates announced by the Centre ( ₹9.5 per litre for petrol and ₹7 for diesel) and the actual cut, Mohali District Petroleum Dealers Association president Ashwinder Mongia said: “The reduction in excise duty was done at the end of the oil companies. There are other taxes and charges added before fuel reaches the consumer.”
Even though the prices have dropped, they still remain higher than the prices on March 21 before a series of 14 hikes took the rates to this year’s peak on April 10 (see box) after having remained stable since November last year. Even as there was no more hike in the past six weeks as the global crude prices dropped, the benefit was not passed on to the consumers.
{{/usCountry}}Even though the prices have dropped, they still remain higher than the prices on March 21 before a series of 14 hikes took the rates to this year’s peak on April 10 (see box) after having remained stable since November last year. Even as there was no more hike in the past six weeks as the global crude prices dropped, the benefit was not passed on to the consumers.
{{/usCountry}}“The price of fuel was moving in tandem with global price of crude oil. While it was volatile in March, the price stabilised and started to come down in April, because of which the price hikes also stopped in India,” said Chandigarh Petroleum Dealers Association president Arjan Singh.
Meanwhile, Mongia said that even after the reduction in prices, it was business as usual at the petrol pumps in Mohali as the footfall remained low due to much lower prices in Chandigarh. His association has also written to the Punjab finance minister to reduce the VAT charged on fuel, especially diesel, and to bring it on a par with that in Chandigarh.