File photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
The interim government on Thursday notified the prices of fuel products for the next fortnight, ending March 15, increasing the petrol price by Rs. 4.13/liter while keeping the price of high-speed diesel unchanged.
This is the final fuel price revision announced by the caretakers before the incoming government takes charge. According to the Finance Ministry notification, the new consumer price has been set on recommendations of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and raised the price of petrol from Rs. 275.62/liter to Rs. 279.75/liter.
Increasing the price of petrol tends to have an inflationary impact on the transport sector, as it is the fuel utilized by private vehicles, including cars, rickshaws and motorcycles.
However, there has been no price revision for high-speed diesel, which has been kept unchanged at Rs. 287.33/liter. Utilized most prominently by heavy machinery such as trucks, buses, tractors, any changes to diesel have an impact on the input prices of edibles, particularly vegetables.
The Finance Ministry notification did not announce any new prices for kerosene or light-diesel. In the last revision, they were also kept unchanged at their Feb. 1 rate of Rs. 186.62/liter for kerosene and Rs. 166.86/liter for light-speed diesel.
While the government charges zero general sales tax on all petroleum products, it is currently imposing the maximum permissible Rs. 60/liter petroleum development levy (PDL) on both petrol and high-speed diesel. Additionally there is roughly Rs. 17-20/liter customs duty on both fuels.