Fuel Price Hike: from Rs 8 to 58 in 20 years

New Delhi: Fuel retailers in India will raise petrol prices by about 4.5 per cent, putting increased pressure on wallets as the country battles the highest inflation of any major Asian economy.

India is beset by rising food and fuel prices, and the central government has come under increasing criticism for failing to implement major structural reforms to control rapid inflation, which has hit hundreds of millions of poor people.

Bharat Petroleum Corp would raise the petrol price by 2.53 rupees a litre, Hindustan Petroleum Corp by 2.54 rupees a litre, and Indian Oil Corp, India's biggest fuel retailer, by about 2.50 rupees a litre. 

The price increases were needed due to rising global crude oil prices.

Revised petrol prices in Delhi are now Rs 58.37 per litre.

In the last two decades fuel prices have escalated, in keeping with variables such as sales tax revisions, effective retail price of crude and increase in local levies.

Following are the revisions since 1989 in the retail prices of four key petroleum products in the national capital. Petrol, kerosene and diesel prices are in rupees per litre while LPG prices are per cylinder of 14.2 kilogrammes.

On April 1, 1989, petrol prices were at 8.50, kerosene at 2.25, diesel 3.50 and LPG 57.60. Within five years (Februry 2, 1994), both petrol and diesel prices

almost doubled to 16.78 and 6.98.

The year 2000 saw a huge jump in LPG prices from Rs 146 to Rs 196.55 the tune of almost Rs 50 followed by a Rs 36 hike in five months to Rs 232.25.

The next five years saw a gradual hike in Petrol and diesel prices. The diesel price rise followed a steeper pattern than that of petrol. In 2005 fuel prices

were increased twice with both petrol and diesel prices revised at 43.49 and 30.45 in September.

The next five years marked a steep rise in LPG prices which touched 346.30, rolled back in January 2009 to 279.70. LPG prices were raised again in April 2010 followed by a hike in June 2010 revised at 345.35. From 2005 to 2010 petrol prices were raised by Rs 15 and diesel roughly by Rs 9.03.

In June 2010 the pro-reform government deregulated petrol prices and even though it retained control over diesel, prices are hiked more than expected.

The price increases could bring indirect benefits to the government. The oil ministry calculated higher prices will more than halve the losses of state-run oil marketing firms to about $ 11.4 billion in the year ending March 31, 2011.

From July 1 - Sept 21 a series of gentle increments by companies brought petrol prices to 51.83 rupees per litre by Sept. 1, up less than 1 percent since the jump at June deregulation.

In December, 2010 the biggest hike since deregulation, of 5.6 percent, propelled petrol prices over 53 rupees per litre, as global oil prices hover around $ 90 per barrel. 

-IBNLive

For petrol, Indians shell out the most in the world

 

For all those already reeling under a series of hikes in petrol prices on the back of zooming inflation, here is some news that will enrage you further. Data of retail prices in countries across the world shows that Indian prices are amongst the highest in the world at current exchange rates. And, if you even out the differences in purchasing power of different currencies then Indian petrol and diesel prices become the highest barring some tiny, remote countries.

Even a simple comparison of retail prices in different countries by converting them to Indian rupee reveals that petrol in India is more expensive than 98 other countries. Among 157 countries for which data is available, those belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have the lowest price.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are the ones that have huge oil reserves and are its main producers. So, petrol is cheapest in Venezuela at just Rs 1.14 per litre. In Iran it sells for Rs 4.8 per litre. The second group comprises of countries like the US, Iraq, Indonesia, etc, where minimal tax is levied on petroleum products. They also have lower prices than India. A litre of petrol costs Rs 42.82 in the US.

India tops the group of countries which have moderate to high tax regimes. Others in the group are the EU countries and others like Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand and Brazil. At Rs 69.90 -the average price of petrol in 24 Indian cities -Indian prices are now comparable to price of petrol in EU. Romania has EU's cheapest petrol at Rs 72.33 per litre.

However, price comparisons done like this - by converting into one currency using the exchange rate - are deceptive. Petrol prices equivalent to Rs 96.39 in the UK might not pinch the English in the same way as Rs 69.90 will clobber Indians.

So, how does one compare prices across countries? This is done by the widely used Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) method. Differences in purchasing powers are evened out and relatively real price comparisons emerge. Using PPP prices, petrol is by far much more costlier in India than most countries. PPP price of petrol in India is $3.95, lower than just three small countries - Timor-Leste, Malawi and Eritrea.

Petrol costs less than a dollar in the OPEC and USA while in most of Europe, Russia, Japan, China and the Americas it is priced between one to two international dollars by PPP calculations. Despite huge subsidies, diesel is more expensive in India than 136 other countries. Costing $2.46 at PPP, India is 23rd most expensive in diesel prices. Can anybody explain why Indians have to bear this unbearable burden?

-TOI