Journalism of Courage
Petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily,using his recently launched fuel conservation drive to save $5 billion in oil imports,is set to request his finance counterpart to reduce excise duties on branded petrol and diesel to cut consumption and reduce carbon emission.
Moilys argument is that the excise duty cut Rs 6.30 per litre on petrol and Rs 2.29 on diesel would not put pressure on the exchequer as current sale of branded fuels was meager. But it would immensely help in product conservation as these fuels provide improved engine performance to yield 2 per cent savings in consumption.
This will not only be of great help in conservation of petroleum products but also help the country to derive substantial benefits of higher fuel efficiency and reduced carbon footprint, said oil ministry officials.
Similar demands had been made by senior oil ministry officials to the finance ministry in September 2011 and March 2012,but the latter refused to budge treating them as fuels for the rich to continue levying higher taxes. While the production cost of premium fuels is higher than that of regular grades,most of the price difference at the retail outlets is accounted for by the higher excise duties on these products. The current difference at pumps in Delhi is Rs 8.87 per litre on petrol and Rs 15.40 per litre (including Rs 9.50 subsidy) on diesel.
Ever since their introduction in 2002,sales have dwindled from a peak of 5.9 million kilolitres of diesel and 3.4 million kilolitres of petrol in 2007-08 to a mere 0.45 kilolitres of diesel and 0.09 kilolitres of petrol in 2012-13. Their marketing is being continued since they have already been launched and provide the consumer with a choice,especially for new generation cars.
Branded petrol and diesel is priced at a premium to regular fuel as additives doped in them remove harmful deposits from engines,prevents corrosion,reduces emissions and lowers maintenance costs.
