Petrol, diesel prices hiked for 9th day: No relief to common man, inflation likely to go up - 5 points

Petrol and diesel prices have hit an all-time high, burning a hole in the common man's pocket. And despite the constant price rise, no solution from the government has been offer yet. However, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the necessary steps would be taken by the Centre but the rally in petrol and diesel prices are already damaging the households' budget. 

On Monday, a litre of petrol in Mumbai was retailing at Rs 84.40 while in Delhi it hit a record high of Rs 76.57 per litre. Last time the prteol prices had hit the Rs 76 mark was in September, 2013. 

On Tuesday, prices of petrol in New Delhi was retailing at Rs 76.87 for a litre while in Mumbai it was Rs 84.70. While in Kolkata nd Chennai it was retailing at Rs 79.53 and Rs 79.79 for a litre respectively. 

Below we have listed 5 developments related to petrol, diesel hike. 

1. For the past few months, fuel prices have been soaring high. Also, it is no secret that the Modi government kept petrol and diesel prices under check in the run-up to the Karnataka assembly polls, but the prices reached an all-time high on Monday. Petrol was sold at Rs 76.24 per litre in Delhi, Rs 84.07 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 79.13 in Chennai and Rs 78.91in Kolkata. 

2. The hike in petroleum products is across the country. However, among the four metropolitan cities, Mumbai is the most expensive. In a span of four months, petrol prices went up by Rs 7 per litre, while diesel prices shot up by Rs 10 per litre. The Monday’s revision in fuel prices marked the eight consecutive increase in petrol and diesel prices across the country.

3. Traders at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) said that in the past three years, there has been constant increase in transportation charges of moving goods. Shankar Pingle, an APMC trader said, “The transportation cost has gone up by 10 per cent in the past three years but the profit ratio has not gone up even by half.”

4. Amid the recent hike in price of petrol and diesel, the traders at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi opine that this will directly impact the retailers and farmers as their cost for transporting the vegetables will increase. 

The traders added that it will have an indirect effect on the price of vegetables as the retailers will increase the price for the same to recover the added cost due fuel hike. 

5. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot on Monday demanded that the Centre and state government reduce the excise duty and VAT on petrol and diesel.

Pilot condemned the unprecedented hike in prices of petrol and diesel prices, saying the BJP government in the Centre and in Rajasthan were working to increase inflation.