Petrol price crosses ₹100/litre mark in Chennai

With this, all districts in Tamil Nadu have crossed the ₹100 mark, said KP Murali, president, Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association

After Mumbai and Bengaluru and several other metros, Chennai on Friday joined the list of cities where petrol prices crossed ₹100 per litre for the first time. Petrol is currently being sold at ₹100.13 per litre in the city.

Representational image. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

With this, all districts in Tamil Nadu have crossed the ₹100 mark, said KP Murali, president, Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association. “It crossed the ₹100 mark due to oil companies increasing prices everyday as per the administration’s price mechanism and depending on the daily crude market rate,” said Murali.

This mark was breached in several parts of the city, while in a few outlets, petrol was being sold at ₹99.80 per litre. “The price isn’t uniform due to transport costs incurred from bulk fuel supply terminals to fuel stations,” said Murali.

The price of diesel, however, remained the same for a third consecutive day at ₹93.72 per litre. The new DMK government, in its election manifesto, promised to cut the VAT on fuel prices. But, recently, the government announced that it was not yet ready to cut prices due to the current fiscal deficit in the state, adding that it receiving only a decreased amount of dues from the Union government.

“I would say that the Central government can insist that oil companies not increase fuel prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Murali. “We are not asking for the state and Central governments to cut VAT on fuel, as this is an important revenue, but oil companies can restrict fuel prices for at least six months.”