Petrol, diesel prices hiked by over Rs 2 after govt raises excise, infra cess in Union Budget 2019

New Delhi: Fuel prices were revised across the country on Saturday, a day after the announcement of additional excise duty and cess of Re 1 per litre on petrol and diesel. [caption id=“attachment_4482565” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In Delhi, petrol is being sold Rs 2.45 higher at Rs 72.96 per litre and diesel at Rs 66.69 per litre after a Rs 2.36 hike. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold at Rs 78.57 while in Kolkata it is retailing at Rs 75.15, higher by over Rs 2 per litre. On Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a hike in cess on auto fuel prices while presenting the Union Budget 2019-20 in the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman, who presented the first budget of the new government, had said crude prices have softened from their highs, paving way for her to review excise duty and cess on petrol and diesel. “I propose to increase special additional excise duty and road and infrastructure cess each by one rupee a litre on petrol and diesel,” she had said. However, the finance minister dismissed suggestions that levies on petrol and diesel will fuel inflation, saying it was aimed at meeting public funding needs without hurting individual taxpayers and was also a step to move away from fossil fuels to electric vehicles.