India reduces petrol, diesel prices after buying discounted oil from Russia

NEW DELHI: After buying discounted oil from Russia, the Indian government on Saturday announced a reduction in petrol and diesel prices and also announced a subsidy on gas cylinders, Indian media reported.

The price of petrol will come down by Rs. 9.5, while the diesel will be cheaper by Rs. 7 as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a sharp cut in central excise duty on fuel prices amid surging inflation, the reports said.

The central excise duty on petrol has been cut by Rs. 8 per litre and the same on diesel has been cut by Rs. 6 per litre, said Ms Sitharaman. The government says it will lose  1 lakh crore rupees by taking the cut on central excise duties.

The Minister urged states to implement a similar cut and pass on the benefit to the common man.

“I wish to exhort all state governments, especially the states where the reduction wasn’t done during the last round (November 2021), to also implement a similar cut and give relief to the common man,” appealed Ms Sitharaman.

Petrol price in Delhi will from Sunday cost Rs. 95.91 a litre as against Rs. 105.41 a litre currently, while diesel will cost Rs. 89.67 a litre as opposed to Rs. 96.67 a litre now.

Also, the government will give Rs.200 per cylinder subsidy to Ujjwala Yojana beneficiaries for 12 cylinders in a year to help ease some of the burden arising from cooking gas rates rising to record levels.

“This will help our mothers and sisters,” tweeted Ms Sitharaman.

The Finance Minister said the gas cylinder subsidy will have a “revenue implication of around Rs. 6,100 crore.”

Soon after the cuts were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined that it is “always people first for us” and that it will further the “ease of living”.

Today’s decisions, especially the one relating to a significant drop in petrol and diesel prices will positively impact various sectors, provide relief to our citizens and further ‘Ease of Living, he added.

India is heavily dependent on imports to meet its oil needs and the domestic petrol and diesel prices are linked to international rates.

Sources have revealed that the Indian government enabled to give relief to the masses after buying oil from Russia at a discounted rate.

It is worth mentioning here that former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has said many times that the Russian government agreed with him, during his landmark visit to Moscow just weeks ago his ouster, to provide oil and wheat to Pakistan at a 30% discount rate.