Fuel prices soar for 10th straight day, govt seeks longterm solution

NEW DELHI: Wednesday marked the 10th day in a row that fuel prices rose, to ₹77.17 a litre of petrol and ₹68.34 a litre of diesel in the capital, but law and information technology (IT) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said a long-term solution is being worked out to address the price volatility. After a 19-day hiatus in the run-up to the Karnataka polls, the price of petrol has increased by ₹2.54 in the last 10 days, and that of diesel by ₹2.41.

Consumers and opposition have been mounting pressure on the government to step in and provide relief from the rising prices. “The government is keen that instead of having an ad hoc measure, it may be desirable to have a long-term view which addresses not only the volatility but also the ambiguity arising out of frequent ups and downs,” Prasad said. In 2017, the government introduced the practice of daily price revision of fuel prices, which were previously fixed every fortnight based on the international crude price and the rupee’s exchange rate.

The United Progressive Alliance government in 2010 deregulated the pricing of petrol.

The National Democratic Alliance administration followed suit with diesel in 2014.

Analysts, consumers, and opposition parties have pointed out that the government hasn’t passed on cuts in international fuel prices with the same alacrity with which it has raises.