Petrol, Diesel prices remain steady, govt tax collection on fuel swells by 459% in 7 years

Retail fuel prices across the country remained steady on March 9, 2021. The Petrol price in Hyderabad remains unchanged since yesterday at Rs. 94.79 per Litre. The diesel price today in Hyderabad is Rs. 88.86 per Litre.

The increase in the previous weeks has taken petrol to cross historic-high levels of Rs 100 a litre in several cities across the country raising concerns over high tax rates by the government. Fuel prices have rallied since January 2021 after a hike in global fuel prices.

Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan revealed in the parliament on March 8, 2021, that the price of domestic cooking gas, LPG has doubled to Rs 819 per cylinder in the last seven years while the increase in taxes on petrol and diesel has swelled collections by over 459 per cent.

Pradhan further revealed the tax collection from petrol and diesel accounted was Rs 52,537 crore in 2013, which rose to Rs 2.13 lakh crore in 2019-20 and swelled further to Rs 2.94 lakh crore in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year.