HYDERABAD: The price of a litre of petrol crossed the Rs 100-a-litre mark for the first time in the city. On Monday, the price of a litre of petrol was Rs 100.20, while diesel was priced at 95.14.
Most petrol pumps in the city on Monday wore a deserted look, as motorists were cautious about buying fuel for their vehicles. “When I moved to the city, back in 1990, the price of one litre petrol was under Rs 20. Now, the price has increased by five times. The government must understand that the abnormal rise in the prices is uncalled for at this point of time,” said Manikanta Yellam, a resident of Dr AS Rao Nagar.
It was not just the consumers who were irked by the rise in prices, even petrol pump owners rued that the rise in price was just to line the pockets of oil companies.
“They call it a market escalation, but the oil companies are deciding the price on their own. They are doing this to ensure that they do not face any loss in their profit margin. Even the governments — both the Central and the state — have made it viable for them to reach their targets, by putting the motorist in trouble,” Rajiv Amamram, of the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), told this correspondent, adding that there were three parameters that were vital in deciding the price of fuel. The first was the oil company’s refusal to lose any profits, the second and third were the state and the Central governments’ reluctance to forgo their profits, said Amamram.
“Petrol or any fuel is a compound tax collecting mechanism and it is a money-spinner for the government. Everyone is looking after their own wallets and are ultimately calling the rise a business modality,” he said.
However, motorists were unrelenting as they took to Twitter to ask the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention.
One user, M. Harish, in his Tweet, asked if there was any discount for youth below 24-28 years. “We are depending on our parents, no notification on govt jobs by state and central govt no money in lockdown no work... kindly reduce tax (sic),” he said on Twitter.
COST OF FUEL PER LITRE
Petrol: Rs 100.20
Speed (branded fuel): Rs 103.06
XP 95 (branded fuel): Rs104.32
XP 100 (sold at four petrol pumps in TS): Rs 160
Diesel: Rs 95.14
