The central government recently announced a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel. According to the latest fuel price update, the Center has reduced the tax on petrol to ₹3/litre from ₹13 and offers Diesel without excise duty, which was earlier ₹10.
However, it follows that the pump prices of petrol and diesel do not change. The move to cut excise duty was made to help OMCs reduce their under-revenue amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has caused volatility in the oil market due to the imminent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
This comes a day after Nayara Energy, India’s leading private fuel trader, introduced a price hike, raising petrol prices by ₹5 and diesel would ₹3 per liter.
Nayara Energy’s price hike was done to offset the sharp rise in international oil benchmarks. The Indo-Russian oil refining and marketing company, which manages 6,967 of the 102,075 gas stations across the country, has decided to transfer some of these rising procurement costs to the public.
Nayara increased the base prices of petrol and diesel by ₹5 a ₹3, but the ultimate impact on consumers varies by region. This difference in rates arises as a result of different state levies such as VAT. In specific areas, gasoline prices reached up to ₹5.30 per liter due to Rosneft-backed Nayara price hike.
