Petrol prices were hiked for a second time on March 23
Petrol and diesel prices on March 23 were hiked by 80 paise a litre each for the second day in a row. A litre of petrol in Delhi will now cost ₹ 97.01, while diesel will be sold at ₹ 88.27, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. In Mumbai, petrol will be retailed at ₹ 111.67 per litre, while diesel is being sold at ₹ 95.85 per litre. Among the metro cities, fuel rates are still the highest in Mumbai. Fuel prices vary across the states due to Value Added Tax.
The rates were held steady for over four months despite the spike in crude oil prices. The rate revision ended on March 22 with a similar hike.
Replying to questions on rising fuel prices in February, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said retail pump rates are governed by international prices as India is 85 percent dependent on imports for meeting its need. The retail price of petrol is made up of 3 different components - base price that reflects the cost of international oil, central excise duty and state taxes. Both central and state governments rely heavily on collections from taxes on these products for meeting their developmental and welfare priorities Mr Pradhan said. But just how much is this break up, which differs from state to state.
According to government data, which the Stats of India posted on its Twitter handle breaks down how much total tax is payed for 100 rupees of petrol in various states in India. In seven states half of the price of petrol is collected as tax. This includes Maharashtra at Rs. 52.5, Andhra Pradesh at Rs. 52.4, Telangana at Rs. 51.6, Rajasthan at Rs. 50.8, Madhya Pradesh at Rs. 50.6, Kerala at Rs. 50.2 and Bihar at Rs. 50, according to Stats of India.
The states/union territories with the lowest taxes are Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. The highest tax rates are in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The data has been taken from the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell which is under the ambit of The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas