Bhubaneshwar :
For the first time in India, diesel is being sold at a price higher than that of petrol in the state of Orissa. On Sunday, diesel was being sold at Rs 80.78 per litre while petrol was at Rs 80.65 per litre in Bhubaneshwar, capital of Orrisa.
The price of diesel crossed that of petrol for the first time on Saturday when the it was sold at Rs 80.97 per litre and petrol at Rs 80.90 per litre.
Traditionally, retail price of diesel is lower compared to petrol due to lower taxes, dealer commissions and base price. However, recently, the diesel base price (price charged from dealers by oil companies without tax) has gone up by around Rs 5 because of growing global demand for the fuel.
Sanjay Lath, secretary of the Utkal Petroleum Dealers’ Association said, “Diesel is now costlier than petrol since VAT on both the fuels is the same (26%) in Odisha, unlike many other states.”
According to oil companies’ data, the dealers pay Rs 43.49 per litre of petrol and Rs 48.02 per litre of diesel without tax. Centre excise duty is Rs 17.80 per litre for petrol and Rs 13.83 per litre of diesel. While dealer commission is around Rs 3.50 per litre of petrol, it is about Rs 2.50 per litre of diesel.