Daily revision of petrol and diesel prices! What exactly is happening?

Monday blues had taken on a whole new meaning on yesterday , when news broke that petrol and diesel prices had breached the Rs 70 and Rs 60 marks respectively. This morning brings more bad news-oil prices have now set a new record since August 2014, reflecting the sharp increase in international crude oil rates.

Mumbai is India's most expensive city for motorists with non-branded petrol selling at Rs 79.15 per litre while diesel is priced at Rs 65.90 per litre. In Chennai, petrol is going for close to Rs 74 per litre and diesel at Rs 65.23 per litre. The corresponding figures for Bengaluru are Rs 72.39/62.92 for a litre of petrol and diesel respectively, while Kolkata posted Rs 74/Rs 64.5 respectively. Delhiites are having an easier time comparatively with petrol priced at Rs 71.27 and diesel at Rs 61.88 a litre. That's a hike of 9 paise per litre of petrol in just one day in the metros, while diesel is up by 14-16 paise per litre.

You can blame the price of Brent crude, which serves as the Asian benchmark, for this state of affairs. Last week, it shot past the $70 per barrel mark, the highest since December 2014, which is alarming since India imports most of its crude oil. Prices may have eased some in the past couple of days but they reportedly remain on track to post a fourth straight week of gains. This explains the renewed calls to the government to cut excise duty and cushion the burden on the common man.

The BJP-led government has cut excise duty only once during its tenure-but raised it nine times between November 2014 and January 2016. In October 2017, when petrol price had reached Rs 70.88 per litre in Delhi and diesel was priced at Rs 59.14, the government had lowered excise duty by Rs 2 per litre. But the central levy on fuels, according to a Bloomberg report, was still twice of what was charged three years ago. In any case, the party did not last long-a cursory look at the price data shared on Indian Oil's website shows how fuel prices have been going up by a few paise every single day.

The daily price hike would have been far more marked had oil marketing companies not chosen to lower margins instead of increasing prices. After all, while Brent crude posted a 45% price hike in the past six months, petrol and diesel prices rose just 9-11% during the period.

But if you are waiting for the government to step in and make your wallet happier, don't hold your breath. Last week, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responded to media queries on whether the Centre would cut excise duty on the two fuels by asking states to first cut VAT. He added that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already written to the states seeking reduction in VAT.