Petrol prices go up
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In a move which is sure to impact travel and tourism, petrol prices have been hiked in India by over INR 5 a litre, taking it to INR 63.37 per litre in Delhi and INR 68.33 in Mumbai. In a related move, aviation fuel prices too have increased substantially and it is only a matter of time before the airlines decide to increase fares, according to observers.The logic and argument in favour of yet another increase in prices is that there is still an element of subsidy in petrol prices, while in theory the government has decontrolled the prices, leaving the market forces to decide.Business Standard quoted oil marketing companies as saying that the latest increase was only 50% of the required increase.”The full price hike has not been passed on to consumers. We were incurring a loss of INR 10.50 on a litre of petrol,” a senior executive of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, who did not want to be named, was quoted saying.”Despite very high global crude oil prices and a huge debt burden of oil companies, the increase is only moderate keeping the consumers’ interest in view,” said an IndianOil statement.The report added that after the petrol price increase, the next increase could come in diesel. One oil ministry source quoted by Times of India said the government could consider raising diesel prices by more than INR 4 a litre, the steepest hike in about a decade, to counter the impact of high global crude prices.
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