Petrol price unchanged at Rs 90.58 in New Delhi, diesel at Rs 80.97

Petrol price on Monday was stable at Rs 90.58 per litre in the national capital and diesel also remained unchanged at Rs 80.97, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies.
 

In Mumbai, petrol price stood at Rs 97 per litre-- the same as Saturday. In Chennai, petrol remained unchanged to sell at Rs 92.59. Diesel was retailing at Rs 85.98 in the city. 

In Bangalore, petrol and diesel prices stayed at Rs 93.61 and Rs 85.54 respectively. In Kolkata, the retail price of petrol was stable at Rs 91.78.
 

Last week, petrol prices breached the Rs 90-a-litre mark to touch an all-time high of Rs 90.19 in the national capital after the rate was hiked by 31 paise.

Fuel prices, which vary from state to state depending on local sales tax or VAT, are now at record highs in the country, prompting calls for a cut in excise duty to ease the burden on consumers. Petrol and diesel prices are revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates. 

Last week, amid an outcry over record high petrol and diesel prices, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the Centre and state governments will have to together work out a mechanism to bring retail rates to reasonable levels.

"This is a very vexatious issue. An issue in which no answer except reducing the price (of fuel) will convince anyone. I know I am treading on an area and whatever I may say, to bring in the reality into picture, will only sound like I am obfuscating." "I am avoiding my answer. I am shifting the blame," she said addressing a gathering at an event organised by the Chennai Citizens' Forum.

She went on to explain the tax structure and how production cuts by oil cartel OPEC and its allies had led to a rally in the international oil prices, leading to a hike in retail rates in India. She, however, said the answer may lie in bringing petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which will end the cascading impact of taxes and bring uniformity.

Currently, the central government levies a fixed rate of excise duty while states levy different rates of VAT. Under GST, the two would merge and bring uniformity, solving the problem of fuel rates being higher in states with higher VAT.

On Sunday, the West Bengal government announced a reduction of tax by Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel effective from midnight. State Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the move will provide some respite to people stung by burgeoning prices of fuel.

Fuel prices have been witnessing an upswing since January, leading to demands for a cut in excise duty. Earlier, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said that the fuel prices had gone up because of a lower production in oil-producing nations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in a meeting on February 3 decided to go on with the output curbs. 

Earlier, Pradhan ruled out any cut in excise duty, for now, to give relief to consumers from the spiralling retail prices of petrol and diesel which have touched all-time highs.

"There is no such proposal at present," he said in the Rajya Sabha when asked if the government was looking at cutting taxes to cool off prices. Rates have risen as international oil prices touched $61 per barrel for the first time in more than a year on improving demand outlook amid the global rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, he had said.

Earlier, during the budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the imposition of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs 4 per litre on diesel.

Here are the fuel prices in your city today

Cities	Petrol	Diesel
Pune	Rs 96.59	Rs 86.33
Mumbai	Rs 97.00	Rs 88.06
Jaipur	Rs 97.44	Rs 89.75
Bhopal	Rs 98.68	Rs 89.31
Hyderabad	Rs 88.31	Rs 87.55
Bengaluru	Rs 85.84	Rs 85.09
Patna	Rs 92.91	Rs 86.22
Chennai	Rs 92.59	Rs 85.98
Trivandrum	Rs 92.46	Rs 87.01
Kolkata	Rs 91.78	Rs 84.56
Bhubaneshwar	Rs 91.28	Rs 88.22
Delhi	Rs 90.58	Rs 80.97
Dehradun	Rs 89.44	Rs 81.62
Lucknow	Rs 88.81	Rs 81.29
Noida	Rs 89.13	Rs 81.65
Gurugram	Rs 88.54	Rs 81.55
Raipur	Rs 89.06	Rs 87.70
Panjim	Rs 88.71	Rs 85.59
Ahmedabad	Rs 87.82	Rs 87.27
Gandhinagar	Rs 87.91

Rs 87.37

Chandigarh 

Rs 87.16

Rs 80.67