Petrol price at 4-year high: Public blames govt; Jaitley ignored warning?

The Oil Ministry had earlier this year sought a reduction in excise duty on petrol an diesel to cushion the impact rising international oil rates but Arun Jaitley in his Budget ignored those calls

The public in parts of India has blamed and urged the central government to come up with a plan to tackle the problem of ever-rising fuel prices as petrol prices on Monday hovered over four-year peak and diesel is at an all-time high.

Petrol is being sold in Delhi for Rs 73.83 per litre and Diesel was selling at a record price of Rs 64.69 a litre.

Diesel price was at an all-time high in all four metro cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

The price of petrol in Mumbai stands at Rs 81.69 a litre and Diesel is selling at Rs 68.89 a litre.

The Oil Ministry had earlier this year sought a reduction in excise duty on petrol an diesel to cushion the impact rising international oil rates but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget presented on February 1 ignored those calls.

India has the highest retail prices of petrol and diesel among South Asian nations as taxes account for half of the pump rates.

Some quarters of the public said the government must come up with a plan such as carpooling policy or decreasing the excise duty on fuel, so that they do not suffer due to hike in petrol and diesel prices in the international market.

"The government earlier as well increased the price of CNG and now these. It should either come up with a carpooling policy or keep a check on the ever increasing prices of diesel and petrol," Delhi-based Rahul Saxena told ANI on Monday.

He said the price of petrol and diesel always remain high in India in comparison with other countries.

"It causes discontentment among the public; the government needs to tackle it by decreasing the excise on fuel," Saxena added.

Satish Kumar, who runs a CNG and petrol car, says the government does not think once before increasing the fuel prices.

He said the government was creating a problem for vehicle users by increasing the price on a daily basis and that the Centre must think over it.

"This also leads to inflation in the market as the increase in price affects the supply of other goods and materials too."

Vivek from Nagpur, however, said the problem was because of huge demand and lack of supply as people were largely dependent on private transportation and consuming it in large scale.

He also said people need to bring down the consumption or deal with it as it keeps on increasing daily.

Seeju from Chennai said he expected more reduction in fuel prices like many other countries have already done and said the government should come up with a policy to keep fuel price around 70, so that common people could afford it.

Naeem, an auto driver from Mumbai, said he hardly manages to meet ends by driving a rickshaw and will die of hunger if the government keeps on increasing fuel/CNG prices on the daily basis.

Narula Khan, who drives a taxi in Mumbai, said he had just got his CNG tank full in view of the price hike from today (Monday).

He said people like him, who struggle to meet ends by driving autos and taxis, are affected the most and the government must consider bringing down the prices.

The price hike in petrol, diesel, as well as CNG, comes following a rapid rise in international rates led by strong global demand.

Oil prices rose on Monday, lifted by a drop in drilling activity in the United States as well as by expectations that Washington could re-introduce sanctions against Iran.

US WTI crude futures were at $65.20 barrel at 0657 GMT, up 26 cents, or 0.4 per cent, from their previous settlement.

Brent crude futures were at $69.78 per barrel, up 44 cents, or 0.6 per cent.