Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged in major Indian cities on Friday. In Delhi, petrol was being sold at ₹96.72 per litre while the price of diesel stood at ₹89.62 per litre.
Petrol and diesel prices are revised daily at 6 am by prominent oil companies. These companies decide the fuel prices which are monitored by the petroleum and natural gas ministry’s petroleum planning and analysis cell.
Earlier, the petrol and diesel prices were revised after every 15 days. In 2014, the Centre de-regulated the petrol and fuel prices. Since 2017, the fuel prices are revised daily at 6 am.
Here are the petrol and diesel prices for major Indian cities on July 28, 2023.
The Centre exercises control over fuel prices through excise duty. It also regulates these rates through base and cap prices at which the dealers and oil companies deal with each other.
Last year, the Narendra Modi government had cut excise duty on petrol and diesel, resulting in the prices to be cut by ₹9.5 and ₹7 per litre respectively.
“We are reducing the Central excise duty on Petrol by ₹ 8 per litre and on Diesel by ₹ 6 per litre. This will reduce the price of petrol by ₹ 9.5 per litre and of Diesel by ₹ 7 per litre. It will have revenue implication of around ₹ 1 lakh crore/year for the government”, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted, urging state governments to implement a similar cut in the respective states.
To be clear, the fuel prices in India are not under goods and service tax. While the Centre collects excise duty, the state governments collect VAT. Since VAT is different for each state, hence the pricing.