Lok Sabha Question No. 2231 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-08
Subject: Increasing Petrol Prices
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Asaduddin Owaisi, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed, Anumula Revanth Reddy, Haji Fazlur Rehman

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2231 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  MARCH, 2021

## Increasing Petrol Prices

## 2231.   SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI: SHRI SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL: SHRI ANUMULA REVANTH REDDY: SHRI HAJI FAZLUR REHMAN:

## पेोलयम और ाक ृतक गैस मंी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the petrol and diesel prices in the country have reached a record high after two years and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  reasons  therefor  and  whether  this  peak  of  petrol  and  diesel prices were seen last in October, 2018;
- (b) whether it is also a fact that increase in prices of these two fuels affect the prices of other commodities resulting in hitting hard common man;
- (c)  whether  keeping  in  view  the  fall  in  prices  of  crude  oil  in  the  international  markets,  the Government proposes to reduce the prices of petroleum products, if so, the steps taken or being taken by the Government to restrict the petrol and diesel prices in the country;
- (d) whether petrol and diesel high prices are due to price mechanism handed over to market force and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the detail of yearly tax collected by the Union Government on petrol and diesel in the last three years, and whether the tax collection has increased to almost double from what it was in 2013;
- (f) whether it is a fact that India has one of the highest taxes on petrol in the world and if so, the reasons for such high tax which is beyond almost many other countries in the world especially in the time when the common man earning is already hit by coronavirus pandemic and unplanned lockdown; and
- (g) whether the Government is planning to reduce the tax on petrol & diesel and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons for the same?

## ANSWER

पेोलयम और ाक ृतक गैस मंी ( ी धम धान ) MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS

## (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) to (d): Prices of petrol and diesel have been made market-determined by the Government with  effect  from  26.06.2010  and  19.10.2014  respectively.  Since  then,  the  Public  Sector  Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) take appropriate decision on pricing of petrol and diesel in line with their international product prices, exchange rate, tax structure, inland freight and other cost elements.  The prices of petroleum products in the country are linked to the price of respective products  in  the  international  market.    The  details  of  retail  selling  prices  of  petrol  and  diesel during the last two years are available at the website of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) i.e. www.ppac.gov.in.

The weightage of petrol and diesel in the WPI index is 1.60% and 3.10% respectively and in the CPI index is 2.19% and 0.15% respectively.

## (e): The details of tax collected on petrol and diesel in the last three years is as under:

(in Rs.lakh Crore)

| Item   |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21* |
|--------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| Total  |      2.13 |      1.78 |       2.94 |

The tax collection from petrol and diesel in 2013 was about Rs. 52,537 crores.

- (f) & (g): The taxes on Petrol and other fuels imposed in various Countries keep changing from time to time as per the policy of their respective governments, and as per the information provided by PPAC in some countries the percentage of taxes on Petrol is higher than the current percentage of tax on petrol in India.

The  taxes  are  imposed  for  meeting  the  budgetary  requirement  of  Government  at  the Centre  and State Government level in order to generate resources for infrastructure and other developmental  items  of  expenditure  keeping  in  view  the  present  fiscal  position.  Taxes  are increased or decreased depending on several factors like requirement of the Government, market situation etc.