Petrol Price Increased by Rs 6 and Diesel by Rs 5 per liter as Govt. Imposes COVID-19 Cess on Oil

New Delhi : In the midst of the havoc of Corona, crude oil prices have fallen in the international market. In the US, the price of crude oil went below the zero dollar on Monday, i.e. the price became negative. This raised an expectation among the common people of India that petrol-diesel rates will come down in the coming days. But, on Wednesday, petrol prices increased by about Rs 6 per liter, while diesel became expensive by Rs 5 per liter. Assam is the state with the highest increase in the rate of petrol and diesel. A notification in this regard was issued by the State Finance (Taxation) Department on Tuesday. This decision has come into effect from midnight of 28 April.

Nagaland is the second state to do so after Assam. On April 8, the Assam government increased VAT on petrol and diesel, after which oil price rose there. Petrol prices in Assam rose by Rs 5.85 and diesel by about Rs 5.43 per liter. Now in Assam, petrol has increased from Rs 71.61 to Rs 77.46 and diesel from Rs 65.07 to Rs 70.50 per liter. Here, using the powers vested in the Nagaland Taxation Act 1967 (as amended), the Governor has issued an order that in addition to the existing tax and cess, COVID-19 cess will also be levied.

According to the IOCL website, the price of one liter petrol in Delhi, Kolkata Mumbai and Chennai today is 69.59, 73.30, 76.31 and 72.28 respectively. Talking about diesel, its prices in Delhi, Kolkata Mumbai and Chennai are 62.29, 65.62, 66.21 and 65.71 respectively.