Taking a big step regarding fuel prices, the government has now decided to review the rates of petroleum products every 15 days. The objective of this decision, on the one hand, is to reduce the financial pressure on oil companies and on the other hand, it is also to provide relief to the common consumers from the sudden increase in prices. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Vivek Chaturvedi said that the cut in excise duty has been done to maintain this balance.
What did Sujata Sharma say?
Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, clarified that there is no shortage of crude oil in the country and the supply has been ensured for the next two months. He said that the situation of LPG and PNG also remains normal at present. The availability of petrol, diesel and LPG is adequate and more than 10,000 new connections are being given to consumers every day.
He also informed that there has been no increase in the prices of petrol and diesel since April 2022. During this period, either the prices have remained stable or in some cases a decline has been observed. The government is constantly monitoring that hoarding or black marketing does not happen due to rumours. People have been appealed not to panic and crowd at petrol pumps.
In the inter-ministerial press briefing, officials said that due to global conditions, especially the ongoing tension in West Asia, the supply of crude oil has been affected and there has been a sharp rise in prices in the international market. Due to this, the prices of petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) have also been affected. However, the country’s refineries are operating at more than 100 percent capacity and commercial supplies have been gradually restoring over the past few weeks, now reaching about 70 percent.
Domestic availability preferred
Giving priority to domestic availability, the government has imposed Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED) and other cess on the export of diesel and ATF, while the duty on petrol has been kept at zero under the current circumstances. Apart from this, there has been a big reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel. The duty on petrol has been reduced from Rs 21.90 per liter to Rs 11.09 and on diesel from Rs 17.8 to Rs 7.8 per liter.
The government says that the current situation is challenging, but the situation is being continuously monitored and further necessary steps will be taken if necessary.
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