Petrol price rose for the third straight day by 25 paise a litre, and diesel by 30 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also informed the Lok Sabha that the excise duty collected from petrol was Rs 1,01,598 crore and from diesel was Rs 2,33,296 crore during FY20-21.
High taxes and 16 rounds of price hikes in May after zero increases in election months of March and April have a role to play in India’s zooming fuel prices.
While petrol was over Rs 100 in several districts of Karnataka, capital Bengaluru reached the mark Friday after fuel prices were hiked for the 26th hike in less than 7 weeks.
Petrol prices, which have already crossed the Rs 100-mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, breached the barrier in Mumbai on Saturday.
While a raft of bearish calls predicting even worse demand this month has emerged after fuel consumption plunged in April, a closer look reveals marked differences from last year.
This was the fifth increase in prices since 4 May, when the state-owned oil firms ended an 18-hiatus in rate revision during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
The BJP leader said that if petrol or diesel is brought under the Goods and Services Tax regime then states would suffer loss of Rs 2 lakh crore revenue.
With petrol prices touching around Rs 100 and diesel up to nearly Rs 90, Indians are dipping into savings or cutting down on expenses to meet their fuel need, says LocalCircles survey.
Finance ministry says the proposed revamp will focus on structural reforms, rate rationalisation & ease of living, & will be deliberated upon in the coming weeks.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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