Relief in the price of petrol and diesel, know how much
There is an atmosphere of instability in the world. On one side there is Russia-Ukraine war and on the other side there is instability on Israel’s border. Even today, after Corona, all the big economies of the world are not able to come out of the economic recession. But the result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s far-reaching policies is that the impact of Corona, global instability and global recession has not affected the prices of petrol and diesel in the country.
According to an answer to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha, the decisive steps taken by the Modi government have protected common citizens from the volatility in global oil prices. Data from October 2021 to October 2023 show that there has been a significant increase in the prices of petrol and diesel in India’s major neighboring countries, whereas in India, there has been a decline in prices during this period.
Tremendous increase in neighboring countries
Talking about petroleum prices, between October 2021 and October 2023, there has been an increase of 118% in Sri Lanka, 73% in Pakistan, 53% in Nepal and 45% in Bangladesh. These are the neighboring countries of India, where people have had to bear the brunt of rising prices. Due to rising petroleum prices, not only India’s neighboring countries but also the developed countries of the world have had to bear the brunt of the rising prices. Between October 2021 and October 2023, a jump of 39% was seen in the US, 31% in Canada, 25% in Spain, 24% in France, 22% in Italy, 21% in Germany and 13% in the UK.
PM Modi has kept the reins of the economy under control
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept the country’s economy under control since the Corona period. While on one hand India’s economy is on the path of continuous progress, on the other hand the global recession also does not seem to have much impact on the country. The situation is that in terms of change in the price of petrol, a sharp decline of 5% was seen in India, whereas an increase was seen in most of the countries.
Let us tell you that Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri had recently said that due to the steps taken by the Modi government, oil prices in the country have come down and this is only because of the decisive steps taken by PM Modi. In an event held at the National Institute of Technology in Delhi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said, “India has been able to control petrol prices due to good foreign policy.”
How are petrol prices decided?
It is generally believed that the prices of petrol and diesel are decided by the prices of crude oil in the international market. Oil companies see what is the average price in the international market in the last 15 days and the prices are fixed accordingly. That is, when the price of crude oil increases or decreases, it affects the pockets of common consumers.
The price increases due to various types of taxes
Actually, taxes imposed on these products play an important role in increasing the prices in the domestic market. One of the main reasons for the increase in the price of petrol is the high collection of local taxes. Even if the prices of petrol and diesel are low in the international market, its impact is not felt in the domestic market because the government imposes many types of taxes before reaching the common consumer. The government first imposes excise duty and cess on it, from which it gets revenue.
State government collects VAT
Apart from this, state governments collect sales tax or VAT. After that freight, dealer commission, value added tax are added. For example, consider the price of petrol in Delhi. The base price of petrol here is Rs 57.15 per liter. Freight Rs 0.20 per litre, excise duty Rs 19.90 per litre, dealer commission (average) Rs 3.76 per liter and VAT (including VAT on dealer commission) Rs 15.71 per litre. Adding all this, petrol is currently available at Rs 96.72 per liter in Delhi.
Who decides the price?
India meets its domestic oil demand mainly through imports. India imports more than 80 percent of its crude oil needs from outside. The price of crude oil is decided at the international level by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). India also has to buy crude oil at the same price which is decided by OPEC. Government oil companies decide the price of petrol and diesel daily. Along with this, India also imports oil from Russia.
