Diesel Prices showed a record-breaking rise on Monday as it rated Rs. 69.46 per litre in the country while petrol rates too are at the peak pricing Rs. 78 a litre. The sudden rise in the prices of diesel and petrol by 14 paise and 13 paise respectively, is due to the fall in rupee which led imports to go costlier.
The hike in prices of fuels has led diesel to cost Rs.69.46 per litre in Delhi which is the highest ever in the state. In Mumbai, however, it is even more, costing Rs. 73.74 a litre. The reason for Delhi paying comparatively less for the fuel than the rest of the metro cities is that the city enjoys lower sales tax or VAT. Before this, on May 29 this year, Delhi witnessed a price of Rs. 69.31 for a litre of diesel.
In case of the petrol prices as well, there are visible differences between the two metro cities. While petrol costs Rs. 77.91 per litre in Delhi, in Mumbai it costs Rs 85.33. But previously, i.e., on May 29, the petrol prices in Delhi and Mumbai were Rs. 78.43 and Rs 86.24 a litre, respectively.
As already mentioned, the fuel prices in India have gone higher due to the fall of the rupee to its lowest value against the US dollar since August 16. The current excise duty levied by the centre on per litre of petrol is Rs 19.48 and Rs. 15.33 per litre on diesel. In addition to this, the VAT (Value Added Tax) is also there to add some more digits to the fuel prices. Mumbai is charged with 39.12 percent VAT on petrol and Telangana levies the highest ever VAT of 26 percent on its diesel prices. In Delhi, the VAT charges on petrol and diesel are 27 percent and 17.24 percent, respectively.