For the first time, petrol price crossed Rs 100 mark in Bengal on Friday. It hovered between Rs 100.01 and Rs 100.10 in north Bengal and inched towards the three-digit mark in Kolkata. The places where the price of the fuel exceeded Rs 100, included Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and some areas of North Dinajpur. In Kolkata, it was Rs 99.04. Sources in oil companies pointed out that the price crossed the Rs 100 mark due to higher freight cost in North Bengal while it may be inevitable in Kolkata in next few days.
In Darjeeling, pumps were charging Rs 100.56 a litre on Friday after the overnight hike by 40 paisa. The price there had jumped to Rs 100.16 on June 29.
The price crossed Rs 100 in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and some parts of North Dinajpur district fort the first time on Friday. One litre petrol was sold at Rs 100.10 at those places.
Prices at the retail pumps of public sector oil marketing companies in Calcutta are still below the Rs 100-mark. The city recorded Rs 99.04 a litre at the Indian Oil Corporation outlets on Friday.
Oil companies are allowed to mark up petrol on account of transport cost if the fuel is hauled to distant places. As a result, prices differ from one location to another even within a state despite the fuel being subjected to the same amount of central and state levies.
In the Darjeeling hills, the price of one litre petrol is always higher by Rs 2 to Rs 2.5 as compared to Siliguri, courtesy the transport and shrinkage charges.
“Petrol price had crossed the 100 rupee mark in Darjeeling on June 29 when it was Rs 100.16 a litre then. Today’s rate, however, is highest,” said a petrol pump owner in Darjeeling.
The common man is bearing the brunt of surging oil prices which are increasing the cost of commute as well as general merchandise.
“These days, petrol prices are increasing every day, so are the prices of diesel. Usually, I travel around 90km every day for my job and the daily fuel expenses have shot up. On the other hand, the rise in the diesel price is leading to an increase in the prices of various commodities,” said Raj Roy, who works in the pharmaceutical sector and is based in Cooch Behar.
Oil industry observers say petrol may cross the Rs 100-mark in Calcutta soon if the Narendra Modi government declines to intervene. So far, it has shown no desire to do so and instead, called on states to cut local taxes.
Bengal did walk the talk and cut prices of both petrol and diesel by Rs 1 a litre on February 22 ahead of the Assembly elections. The rebate, which had been in place till June 30, has been extended for another three months.
The Mamata Banerjee government imposes 17 per cent and 25 per cent sales tax on diesel and petrol, respectively on ad valorem basis. Additionally, it used to imposes a cess of Rs 1,000 per kilo litre or Re 1 a litre on both the products. Now, no cess is being imposed on these fuels in the state.
Bengal was collecting Rs 19.11 a litre on petrol and Rs 13.05 a litre on diesel as on Friday.
Snehasish Bhowmik, vice president, West Bengal Petroleum Dealers Association, said that the retail price is fixed only by the oil marketing companies and the main reason behind the rise in the price of petrol in these districts is the distance from the fuel loading point to the fuel stations. “But we are against such never-ending rise of fuel prices. We have decided to wear black badge on the day when it will cross Rs 100 a litre,” he added.
A petroleum expert said that the price of petrol in the city too would have touched the three-digit mark had the state government not reduced taxes on the fuel by Re 1 earlier this year. Bengal was among few states to take up the challenge of the Centre to reduce taxes on petroleum products.
The state finance minister Amit Mitra had announced that there would be Re 1 cut in state taxes on both petrol and diesel from February 22 midnight. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that states would have to reduce tax and then only the Centre could consider some steps of reducing the tax. This implies that the consumers in the state have been getting a Re 1 relief in petrol and diesel prices for the last five months. The state is, however, losing around Rs 50 crore per month due to the reduction in tax.
