Unbelievable! Petrol, diesel prices cheaper than a litre of water?

Petrol and diesel prices would have been cheaper than a litre of packaged water, provided government didn't keep raising excise duty on both fuels

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: It is true that your petrol and diesel prices are cheaper than a litre of packaged water! Only that the government has been making it costlier by raising excise duty on petrol and diesel.

It is a fact that the Indian Crude Basket, which is a weighted average of global prices, was $29.24 per barrel, or Rs 1955.86 on Friday. One barrel is 158 lites of oil.

If we convert the price of Indian crude basket in litre, the per litre price of crude oil in India turns out to be Rs 12.30 per litre. It would amaze you that crude oil is cheaper than one bottle of packaged water, which would cost your Rs 20 a litre. 

Currently, price of a litre of non-branded petrol in Delhi costs Rs 59.35, while non-branded diesel costs Rs 45.03

The low prices of the Indian crude basket has offered an opportunity to the government to increase the excise duty on petrol and diesel and meet up the targets of fiscal deficit, which is 3.9 percent of GDP. In the process, making it tough for the oil marketing companies to lower retail prices of petrol and diesel.