Petrol & Diesel Prices Touch All-Time Highs; Odisha Congress Calls For Bandh

Prices of Petrol and diesel on Monday touched fresh all-time highs across four metros, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, after oil companies increased rates by around 30 paise for seventh day. In national capital, petrol and diesel prices have gone up to ₹88.99 per litre and ₹79.35 per litre, respectively. In Mumbai petrol w costs Rs 95.46 per litre against Rs 95.21 per litre on Sunday. Whereas, diesel cost increased to 86.34 against Rs 86.04 on Sunday.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Prhan on Wednesday h told Parliament that government is t considering a reduction in excise duty to cool rates from ir record highs. Rates have risen as international oil prices touched USD 61 per barrel for first time in more than a year on improving demand outlook amid global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, he h said.

Central and state taxes make up for over 61 per cent of retail selling price of petrol and about 56 per cent of diesel. Union government levies Rs 32.9 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs Rs 31.80 a litre on diesel.Retail petrol rates have risen by Rs 18.87 per litre since mid-March 2020 after government raised taxes by a record margin to mop up gains arising from fall in international oil prices. Diesel rates have gone up by Rs 16.45.

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Protest in Odisha 

Congress has given a call for Odisha bandh of 7 hours on Monday to protest against rising fuel prices.  state government closed all schools and universities across Odisha for safety of students. All buses will remain off ros when bandh continues, Odisha Bus Owners Association said.

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