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Kejriwal demands petrol price cut to ₹82 from ₹102, accuses Centre of allowing ‘illegitimate profit’
Kejriwal said international crude prices have fallen but consumers in India have not received the benefit, with petrol prices remaining unchanged for months.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday demanded that petrol prices be reduced to ₹82 per litre from the current ₹102 per litre, alleging that the Centre has allowed oil companies to make "illegitimate profits" despite a decline in global crude oil prices.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said international crude prices have fallen but consumers in India have not received the benefit, with petrol prices remaining unchanged for months.
"Petrol should be available at ₹82 per litre instead of ₹102 per litre, and diesel prices should also be reduced," Kejriwal said, urging the government to pass on the benefits of lower crude oil costs to consumers.
The AAP chief claimed that global crude oil prices have declined multiple times since 2014, but fuel prices in India have not been reduced proportionately.
"Between 2014 and now, international crude oil prices have reduced at least six times, but petrol prices in the country were not reduced accordingly. What happened to the bumper profits earned during these years?" he asked.
Kejriwal further argued that a reduction in petrol and diesel prices would help bring down inflation and provide relief to households and businesses.
He accused the Centre of allowing oil companies to charge high prices and said companies should not make what he described as "illegitimate profits" at the expense of consumers.
Oil minister on petrol prices
International crude oil prices may have fallen to a four-month low, but retail petrol and diesel prices in India are unlikely to be cut anytime soon as state-run refiners are still processing costlier crude purchased during the peak of the West Asia crisis, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said earlier this week.
Petrol and diesel prices were raised by about ₹7.50 per litre each in the second half of May, more than two months after the outbreak of the West Asia conflict and by less than the increase in global fuel costs, resulting in state-owned fuel retailers absorbing a significant portion of the higher crude prices.
The delayed and partial pass-through left Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) with substantial losses on the sale of petrol and diesel, even as international oil prices have since retreated.
According to news agency PTI, Puri said state-owned fuel retailers incurred cumulative losses of ₹74,781 crore on the sale of petrol, diesel and subsidised cooking gas (LPG). The figure includes losses from selling petrol and diesel below cost for four months following the outbreak of the West Asia conflict on February 28, as well as unrecovered LPG subsidies for the same period and earlier months.
(With inputs from PTI)
