New Delhi sources have stated that Petrol and diesel prices have gone through the roof ever since the central government announced daily revision of fuel prices. Petrol price in Delhi was at Rs70.38 per liter, whereas in Hyderabad it is Rs74.50 and in Mumbai a liter of petrol costs Rs79.48.
According to sources the excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs 11.77 per liter and that on diesel by 13.47 a liter ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. Earlier the government had in November 2015 and January 2016 raised excise duty on petrol and diesel five times to take away gains arising from plummeting international oil prices. Excise duty on petrol was hiked by Rs4.02 a liter and that on diesel by Rs6.97.
Moreover the four excise duty hikes during this
period totaled Rs7.75 per liter on petrol and Rs6.50 a liter on diesel and it
led to about Rs20,000 crore in additional revenue to the government, helping it
meet the fiscal deficit target. Furthermore the petroleum products still
attract state and central levies such as excise duty and VAT(Value added tax)
as the government has excluded petrol and diesel from the ambit of GST (Goods
and Service Tax).
