Fuel prices witness dip, petrol in Delhi settles at Rs 82.62, diesel nears Rs 80 in Mumbai

After remaining constant for two days, the prices of both petrol and diesel across the country witnessed a dip on Thursday, bringing respite to consumers. The petrol price in the national capital settled at Rs 82.62 per litre, a decrease of 21 paise and that in Mumbai was Rs 88.08 per litre also a cut by 21 paise. 

The diesel price mark was Rs 75.58 per litre in Delhi and for Mumbai, the price was Rs 79.24 per litre -- both a decrease by 11 paise. 

In the two other metro cities, the same cut was seen. In Kolkata, the petrol price settled at Rs 84.44 per litre and in Chennai, it was Rs 85.88 per litre a cut by 22 paise. The price for diesel in Kolkata was Rs 77.43 per litre and in Chennai, it was Rs 79.93 per litre.

The prices of fuels on October 16 and October 17 remained constant. In Delhi, the petrol price settled at Rs 82.83 per litre and in Mumbai, it remained Rs 88.29 per litre.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association on Wednesday announced a one-day strike demanding a decrease in VAT over fuel prices. The association said that they will observe the strike from 6 am on October 22 to 5 am on October 23. Following the strike call, all petrol and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) pumps in the national capital will remain closed.

The dealers have called for a protest after Delhi government refused to decrease Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. VAT in Delhi is higher than neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The Centre had recently cut the excise duty by Rs 1.50 per litre and asked PSU oil firms to subsidise fuel by Re 1. Thereafter other states followed suit and announced a cut in fuel prices. Maharashtra and Gujarat governments were among the first to announce a matching Rs 2.50 cut.

They were later joined by Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Uttarakhand, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar with similar moves. Jammu and Kashmir, which is under the governor's rule, too reduced the tax on the two fuel. Maharashtra, however, reduced VAT only on petrol and not on diesel.

Even before the excise duty cut, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh had last month reduced VAT to cushion consumers for a spate of price increases.