Fuel prices remained unchanged on May 31 more than a week after the government announced an excise duty cut on petrol by a record Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre on May 21.
The excise duty cut translated into a reduction of Rs 9.5 a litre for petrol in Delhi and Rs 7 a litre for diesel. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 96.72 a litre as against Rs 105.41 a litre before while diesel costs Rs 89.62 a litre as opposed to Rs 96.67 earlier.
In Mumbai, one litre of petrol costs Rs 111.35 and diesel Rs 97.28. In Chennai, petrol and diesel prices are Rs 102.63 and Rs 94.24 per litre respectively. In Kolkata, petrol is Rs 106.03 and diesel is Rs 92.76 per litre.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) are passing on the excise duty cut to consumers despite losing Rs 13.08 a litre on petrol and Rs 24.09 per litre on diesel.
India meets 80 percent of its oil needs through imports.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 22 said the reduction in central taxes on petrol and diesel has been in road and infrastructure cess that is not shared with states, dismissing opposition's criticism that the move will impact states' share in central revenues.
Sitharaman has also announced that the government would provide a subsidy of Rs 200 per LPG cylinder to over nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Also Read: Oil prices rise after EU bans most Russian oil imports
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on May 31 after European Union leaders said they had agreed to cut 90 percent of oil imports from Russia by the end of this year.
Brent crude futures for July, which will expire on May 31, gained 63 cents to $122.30 a barrel at 0012 GMT.
United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $117.65 a barrel, up $2.58 from the May 27 close. There was no settlement on May 30 due to a US public holiday.
The ban on Russian oil is expected to tighten a global crude market which has already been facing supply constraints amid post-pandemic demand recovery.
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