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Journalism of Courage
Prices of petrol and diesel have been raised significantly in the national capital following a sharp rise in the Value Added Tax (VAT) announced by the Delhi government.
Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 71.26 a litre, up by Rs 1.67 from 69.59 per litre previously, while diesel is available at Rs 69.39 per litre, up by Rs 7.10 from Rs 62.29 a litre.
The country’s oil marketing companies (OMCs) have not changed the base prices of petrol and diesel since the mid of March, however, due to a rise in VAT by various state governments in the recent weeks, the retail prices of the key automobile fuels have shot up.
Unlike most goods sold in the country, petrol and diesel prices do not come under the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), therefore the price of the key auto fuels differ from place to place as state governments are free to determine the VAT that gets levied on the fuel.
Take a look at the prices of petrol and diesel in India’s key cities on Tuesday, according to the data available with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
| City | Petrol price | Diesel price |
| Delhi | 71.26 | 69.39 |
| Mumbai | 76.31 | 66.21 |
| Kolkata | 73.30 | 65.62 |
| Chennai | 75.54 | 68.22 |
| Bengaluru | 73.55 | 65.96 |
| Noida | 72.03 | 62.96 |
| Gurugram | 71.21 | 63.18 |
| Lucknow | 71.81 | 62.76 |
| Chandigarh | 65.82 | 59.30 |
| Hyderabad | 73.97 | 67.82 |
| Pune | 76.09 | 65.00 |
| Thiruvananthapuram | 72.99 | 67.19 |
| Kochi | 71.44 | 65.73 |
| Bhubaneswar | 68.58 | 66.70 |
| Guwahati | 77.46 | 70.50 |
| Source: Fuel@IOC | ||
However, in the international markets, crude oil prices have witnessed a massive crash in recent months due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that has resulted in lockdowns across most parts of the world, which led to a fall in global demand.
But the OMCs here have not been able to cut the prices in the domestic market due to inventory losses and lack of demand. Even though petrol and diesel fall under the category of the essential items, the sales of the fuels have been severely hit because of shutting down of various industries, offices and restrictions on vehicle movement across the country.
