Govt slashes petrol price by Rs4, diesel by Rs2

The government on Friday reduced the price of petrol by Rs4 per litre and diesel by Rs2 per litre with immediate effect.

Following the decrease, the price of petrol stands at Rs373.78 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) at Rs378.78, down from Rs377.78 and Rs380.78 per litre, respectively.

The Petroleum Division’s notification announcing the decrease said the new prices would be effective from June 13 (Saturday).

This is the fifth consecutive weekly reduction in petrol prices, with a cumulative decrease of Rs41 per litre.

Last week, the government announced a Rs4 reduction in the per litre price of petrol, while the price of HSD remained unchanged at Rs380.78.

The government is currently charging about Rs100 per litre on HSD in the form of customs duty, petroleum levy and climate support levy, besides the inland freight equalisation margin.

Meanwhile, the total tax on petrol stands at Rs125 per litre, including petroleum levy, customs duty and climate levy.

The government is also charging about Rs21 per litre as petroleum levy on kerosene and about Rs16 per litre on light diesel oil.

Petrol and HSD are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

Petrol is mostly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers and has a direct bearing on the budget of the middle and lower-middle class. High-speed diesel is mainly used in the heavy transport sector and for large generators.

The government has been revising petroleum prices every week on Friday night following the now-paused US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28. ...