Petrol & Diesel Prices Touch All-Time Highs; Odisha Congress Calls For Bandh

Prices of Petrol and diesel on Monday touched fresh all-time highs across the four metros, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, after oil companies increased the rates by around 30 paise for the seventh day. In the national capital, petrol and diesel prices have gone up to ₹88.99 per litre and ₹79.35 per litre, respectively. In Mumbai petrol now costs Rs 95.46 per litre against Rs 95.21 per litre on Sunday. Whereas, diesel cost increased to 86.34 against Rs 86.04 on Sunday.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday had told Parliament that the government is not considering a reduction in excise duty to cool rates from their record highs. Rates have risen as international oil prices touched USD 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.

Central and state taxes make up for over 61 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and about 56 per cent of diesel.The Union government levies Rs 32.9 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs Rs 31.80 a litre on diesel.Retail petrol rates have risen by Rs 18.87 per litre since mid-March 2020 after the government raised taxes by a record margin to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices. Diesel rates have gone up by Rs 16.45.

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Protest in Odisha 

Congress has given a call for Odisha bandh of 7 hours on Monday to protest against the rising fuel prices. The state government closed all the schools and universities across Odisha for the safety of students. All the buses will remain off the roads when the bandh continues, the Odisha Bus Owners Association said.

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