Fuel prices hiked, petrol now costs Rs 74.17 per litre
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 07 2020: Subsequent upon hiking of Central and State taxes levied on petrol and diesel, prices of fuels have spiked steeply.

Now petrol costs Rs 74.17 per litre at Imphal while the price of diesel has touched Rs 64.93 per litre.

Till Wednesday, the prices of petrol (normal) and diesel (normal) per litre were Rs 68.18 and Rs 60.85 respectively which means the prices have spiked by Rs 5.99 and Rs 4.08.The reason for the sudden spike in the fuel prices is the hiking of Central tax and State tax (VAT) levied on petrol and diesel.

The Central tax levied on petrol has been hiked by Rs 22.98 per litre.

Likewise, the State tax (VAT) applied on one litre of petrol has jumped from Rs 17.05 to Rs 27.07.In another word, the State Government was charging VAT of 25 per cent on petrol but it has been hiked to 36.50 per cent.

Central tax levied on diesel has also been hiked by Rs 18.83 per litre.

In a similar fashion, State tax (VAT) charged on diesel has been increased from Rs 8.82 to Rs 15.60 per litre with effect from today.

This implies that the VAT charged on diesel by the State Government has jumped from 14.5 per cent to 22.50 per cent.

Regarding the hiking of VAT charged on petrol from 25 per cent to 36.50 per cent and diesel from 14.5 per cent to 22.50 per cent, the Finance Department issued an order yesterday.

According to the revised prices of petrol and diesel, the price of one litre of petrol is Rs 24.17 if the taxes are not taken into account which means every citizen has been paying Rs 50.05 to the State and Central Governments every time he/she purchases a litre of petrol.

The price of diesel is Rs 31.49 per litre if the taxes are deducted.

This implies that citizens have been paying Rs 31.49 to the State and Central Governments every time they purchase a litre of diesel.

The prices of petrol and diesel (before the taxes are added) are inclusive of dealers' commission and transportation charge for bringing fuel from Malom depot to retail outlets.

The sudden and steep hike in the prices of fuel amidst the country-wide lockdown would have adverse impacts on every section of the society in general and economically weaker sections in particular, said many analysts.

Notably, India is among the group of countries which levies heaviest taxes on fuel.

Whereas Canada levies just 33 per cent tax on fuel, India has been levying taxes amounting to 69.3 per cent.

Japan levies 47 per cent, Spain 53 per cent, the UK 62 per cent, Germany 63 per cent, France 63 per cent and Italy 64 per cent.

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