On Thursday, Union Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the petrol prices are perhaps the lowest in India compared to other countries in view of the current global situation and international crude prices.
During question hour, Hardeep Puri replied that some states had reduced VAT to bring down the price of petrol and diesel following a reduction in excise duty by the Centre, while some opposition-ruled states had not done so.
“I would like to point out that the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Jharkhand did not cut their taxes,” Petroleum Minister said.
Minister Hardeep Puri informed that some states were charging VAT at the rate of rupees 17 and some other non-BJP states were charging rupees 32 per litre.
Explaining the price difference of petrol at different places, Minister said, “The petrol prices went up by a large margin internationally. They went up by percentages which are sometimes 40 percent higher or 50 percent higher. In India, petrol prices increased by only two percent during that representative period between 2021 and 2022. Why? It is because we reduced our excise and urged states to reduce their VAT. Some did, some did not.”
He said it was possible because the Oil Marketing Companies took the loss.
“Today, petrol prices in India are perhaps the lowest. The average price of crude in the Indian basket increased by 102 percent. It went up from $43.34 to $87.55 between November 2020 and November 2022. At that time when it was up by 102 percent, the retail price of petrol went up only by 18.95 percent. Now, how much of this is the exchange rate variation? That is one question. The government is committed to energy security and affordability,” the minister said.
“I have some figures here. The Oil Manufacturing Companies(OMCs) made a profit before tax of rupees 28,360 crores in H1 of the financial year 2021-22. This is a profit before tax of rupees 28,360 crores. These three companies, namely, IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL, in the H1 of the next year have booked a combined loss of rupees 27,276 crores. So, it is a combination of the Central Government’s reduction of excise when we were going through a very difficult period and there were other expenditure liabilities, and state governments reducing their VAT,” Minister further said.
