Fuel prices stable as tax collection on petrol, diesel jumps 300% in 6 yrs

 The collections on petrol and diesel rose to Rs 2.94 trillion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal

Fuel prices in the country remained steady on Tuesday maintaining a three week period of unchanged prices as softening crude and upcoming assembly elections in a few states have kept Oil companies from revising the retail prices.

Accordingly, petrol continues to be priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in the capital. Fuel prices have not been revised now for over 21 days. Across the country as well, petrol and diesel prices remain unchanged. But the pause has not helped in bringing down petrol prices that have crossed Rs 100 per litre-mark in several parts of the country.

Prices have stabilised amid an outcry over record-high fuel prices, which have been witnessing an upswing since January, leading to demands for a cut in excise duty. Petrol and diesel prices are revised daily in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.

Meanwhile, the central government's tax collections on petrol and diesel have jumped over 300 per cent in the last six years as excise duty on the two fuels was hiked, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. The central government collected Rs 29,279 crore from excise duty on petrol and Rs 42,881 crore on diesel in 2014-15 -- the first year of office of the Modi government.

The collections on petrol and diesel rose to Rs 2.94 trillion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal (2020-21), according to information furnished by Minister of State Anurag Singh Thakur in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

Together with excise duty on natural gas, the central government in 2014-15 collected Rs 74,158 crore which has gone up to Rs 2.95 trillion in April 2020 to January 2021 period.

He said taxes collected on petrol, diesel and natural gas as a percentage of total revenue have gone up from 5.4 per cent in 2014-15 to 12.2 per cent this fiscal.

Excise duty on petrol has been raised from Rs 9.48 per litre in 2014 to Rs 32.90 a litre now while the same on diesel has gone up from Rs 3.56 a litre to Rs 31.80.