Another symbolic reduction? Petrol price cut by 7 paise, diesel by 5 paise per litre

Petrol price was today cut by 7 paise a litre and diesel by 5 paise - the second reduction in as many days on the back of softening international oil rates.

Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 78.35 a litre, down from Rs 78.42, according to a price notification issued by state-owned oil firms. Diesel rates have been cut to Rs 69.25 per litre from Rs 69.30. This is the second reduction in rates coming after a 16 day relentless price hike that followed lifting of a nearly three-week hiatus on price revision just before Karnataka went to polls.

Petrol and diesel prices were yesterday cut by 1 paisa a litre each. That reduction followed rates touching an all-time high of Rs 78.43 per litre for petrol and Rs 69.31 for diesel in Delhi on Tuesday. Prices vary from state-to-state depending on local sales tax or VAT. Delhi has the cheapest price among all metros and most state capitals. In the 16 consecutive increases since May 14, petrol price was hiked by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38. 

After 16 days of continuous increase in fuel prices, the decision to reduce it by one paisa per litre by the oil companies on Tuesday came as a rude shock to the consumers eliciting sharp reactions. Sending a strong message to the Modi-led government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the prices of petrol and diesel in Kerala would be reduced by Re 1 from June. “The state has decided to forego Re 1 from its tax. The loss to the exchequer would be approximately Rs 509 crore in a year. We wish to send a message to the Centre that despite pleas from all, it is doing nothing to bring relief to the people,” Vijayan said at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.

In fact, the day began with the news of petrol prices being reduced by 60 paise and diesel price by 59 paise but the relief proved short lived and the Indian Oil Corporation soon clarified that the actual reduction was only one paisa per litre. “The reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error the price prevalent on May 25 was communicated as today’s price,” the IOC said.  Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had thrown the fuel challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to hound him. “Dear PM, You’ve cut the price of Petrol and Diesel today by 1 paisa. ONE paisa!?? If this is your idea of a prank, it’s childish and in poor taste. P.S. A ONE paisa cut is not a suitable response to the #FuelChallenge I threw you last week,” Rahul tweeted.

Congress twitter handle soon followed suit, tweeting, “The price of petrol fell by ONE Paisa. Here is someone ecstatic with the news. What will YOU do with the money you save?” CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury also hit out at the Modi government as he tweeted, “Rs 3 Lakh crores of relief for big corporate unpaid loans. 1 paise relief for the common Indian. #ModiKiNiyat”  Facing incessant wrath of consumers, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan finally decided to speak up to Zee media and blamed an official for the blunder of first announcing a cut of 59 and 60 paise and then correcting it to one paisa. “This mistake should not have happened. I take the blame but this is not a new thing. Earlier, also one paisa increase and reduction in price has taken place,” Pradhan said. He said the government is making a long term comprehensive strategy to deal with the problem. “A permanent solution is to bring it under GST,” Pradhan told Zee. 

Citing example of the CPM-led Kerala government, Yechury said, “No BJP-ruled state has done this so far. Modi should follow the Kerala example and reduce the duties on fuel to at least pre-2014 levels. The nine increases in excise duty must be rolled back immediately. Making fun of PM Modi’s frequent roadshows, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav wondered, “If the government is planning a roadshow to take the credit of historic reduction of one paisa in the oil prices?”  Soon after Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, the netizens started trolling the Modi government. Within a couple of hours, twitter and other social media sites were abuzz with hashtags like #EkPaiseKiSarkar, #1PaisaGormint, #ekpaisekekimattumkyajano and #EkPaisaJoke.

With PTI inputs