On Tuesday, the petrol prices were hiked by 7 paise and diesel price was by 8 paise per litre.
Petrol prices touched highest point in four years on Tuesday. Fuel Price in Mumbai has gone beyond Rs 81 per litre mark even after the Brent crude oil price has been sliding down for the past three days.
On Tuesday, the prices were hiked by 7 paise and diesel price was by 8 paise per litre.
The petrol price in Mumbai was Rs 81.24 per litre; in Delhi Rs 73.38; Kolkata Rs 76.07; and Chennai Rs 76.12, while diesel price in Mumbai was Rs 68.39 per litre; Delhi Rs 64.22; Kolkata Rs 66.89; and Chennai Rs 67.73 per litre at a record high.
While the Brent price, according to Reuters, was at $66.88 per barrel, down 74 cents, or 1.1%, from the previous close.
Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who has long been demanding to bring fuel under the ambit of the GST, in a written reply to Lok Sabha told, “Four state governments and one Union territory have reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel.” He did not mention the names of the states.
Though the excise duty on oil has decreased in Budget 2018, consumers are deprived of any benefit as a new cess has been added to it, thereby nullifying the cut. If this was not enough, even some buses, luxury cars and bikes and its maintenance could get costlier due to increase in import duties.
In its Budget, Modi government reduced the basic duty by Rs 2 per litre for petrol and diesel, besides doing away with additional excise duty of Rs 6. It has not helped in bringing the price of the fuel down as the government has introduced a new cess of Rs 8 per litre.
Sudhir Mathur, CEO, Vedanta Cairn Oil and Gas, said he was seeing little action in the Union Budget to address the immediate need of the economy to attain energy security and reduce the burden of crude oil import at a time when oil prices are rising.
Contrary to the burden of import, domestic production will add substantial revenues to the government's exchequer, at the same time create jobs and help the economy at large. "The best way is to create an eco system to encourage domestic production and cut down dependence on imports with a sustained, targeted approach, " Mathur noted.
There is a strong view among industry stakeholders that the Budget falls short of the industry's expectations on several tax-related issues such as reduction in cess on crude oil for the pre-NELP blocks, clarity in the definition of mineral oil and sunset clause for Exploration and Production (E&P) companies.
Raju Kumar, Tax Partner (oil & Gas sector), at consultancy firm EY India, said the Oil & Gas sector is still looking for necessary impetus to augment domestic production and to promote ease of doing business in India, more so, with the introduction of new Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP), which replaces the earlier New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and with an ongoing bidding round.
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 "Petrol prices at 4-year high, Oil min Dharmendra Pradhan blames states for not cutting taxes")
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