Fuel price can be controlled by reducing VAT: Petrol dealers

With prices of petrol and diesel soaring high and the public continuously requesting the government to reduce the same, All India Petroleum Dealers Association president Ajay Bansal on Tuesday said they can only control the rising fuel price by reducing VAT of state and central taxes.

"Fuel prices are directly linked to crude oil. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have reduced supplies. We don't have any say to bring down the price. We can only reduce VAT of state taxes and central taxes, that is the only way to reduce the price," said Bansal.

On Tuesday, the petrol prices were increased in the range of 29-32 paise per litre across Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, while diesel prices were hiked by 26-28 paise per litre, compared to the previous day.

The fuel price hike has raised a concern across the nation and invited a wrath of the general public for whom transportation has become costlier and inconvenient.

Earlier, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan assured the public that the government will soon take out a solution to tackle the situation.

He further pointed out that less production of oil in the OPEC and hike in crude oil price in the international market are some of the factors affecting the fuel price.