NEW DELHI: Petrol prices in India’s financial capital of Mumbai have risen past the Rs 100-a-litre mark for the first time ever, among the costliest in the country and almost twice the price in New York.
Retail prices in the city are up 11% this year and reached Rs 100.72 ($1.39) a litre on Tuesday, Indian Oil Corp data show. The equivalent price in the US financial center is $0.79, according to Bloomberg calculations based on figures from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Indian fuel prices have soared in the past year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has repeatedly raised sales taxes to cushion worsening public finances. Levies now make up around 60% of the retail price and taxes on gasoline and diesel have surged nearly six times since 2013.
“I pray for the prices to soften or the government to reduce the taxes,” said N Vijayagopal, finance director at Bharat Petroleum Corp, one of India’s three-biggest fuel retailers. Unless that happens, “we have no choice but to increase the retail selling prices,” he said.
Surjitt Sahani
