Karnataka fuel price hike: Rates still lower than neighbouring, Maharashtra, shows data

But the rates in Karnataka are still lower than neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Fuel prices in other states

TDP-BJP combine-ruled Andhra Pradesh has the costliest petrol at ₹109.87 a litre, followed by Left Democratic Front (LDF)-ruled Kerala, where a litre of petrol comes for ₹107.54. Congress-run Telangana is close behind with petrol costing ₹107.39 a litre.

BJP-ruled states are not far behind—petrol costs ₹106.45 a litre in Bhopal, ₹105.16 in Patna (BJP in coalition with JD-U), ₹104.86 in Jaipur and ₹104.19 in Mumbai.

Mamata Banerjee’s TMC-ruled West Bengal has petrol priced at ₹103.93 a litre.

Other states with over ₹100-a-litre petrol are Odisha (₹101.04 a litre in Bhubaneswar), Tamil Nadu (₹100.73 in Chennai), and Chhattisgarh (₹100.37 in Raipur), industry pricing data showed.

Diesel prices have almost a similar story with Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh selling the fuel at ₹97.6 a litre, followed by ₹ 96.41 a litre in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, ₹95.63 in Hyderabad and ₹ 93.31 in Raipur.

The fuel is in the range of ₹92-93 a litre in BJP-ruled states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. It is also in that range in Odisha and Jharkhand.

Fuel price hike in Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah defends decision; BJP to protest state-wide on 17 June

BJP attacks Congress

On Sunday, 16 June, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri compared fuel prices in Karnataka with those in BJP-ruled UP and Gujarat to target the Congress.

“After not fulfilling the promises of transferring ₹8,500/month to a woman of each family, Congress-ruled Karnataka government has saddled the people of Karnataka with the burden of paying ₹3/litre more for petrol and diesel in the state,” he said in a post on X.

“After this decision, the people of Karnataka would be forced to pay higher amounts for food items, clothing, medicines and all items of basic necessities as fuel prices directly impact prices of all goods. Such a decision just after elections have been concluded exposes the hypocrisy of the Congress which talks about mehengai but levies approximately ₹8 litre- ₹12/litre additional VAT in comparison with BJP-ruled states,” the minister wrote.

With this hike, petrol in Karnataka is now ₹8.21/litre more expensive than both BJP-run governments in UP and Gujarat, he said.

Khata-Khat badh gayi mehengai!

After not fulfilling the promises of transferring Rs 8500/month to a woman of each family, Congress ruled Karnataka government has saddled the people of Karnataka with the burden of paying Rs 3/litre more for petrol and diesel in the state.… pic.twitter.com/2SOjEA6L9k

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) June 16, 2024

He however did not cite rates in neighbouring BJP-ruled states.

“The price gap is even more staggering if Karnataka is compared with BJP-governed Arunachal Pradesh where the party has come back to power strongly. The petrol prices in Karnataka are over ₹12/litre higher than in Arunachal. The price gap for diesel is ₹8.59/litre between the two states with Arunachal being much less expensive,” he said.

‘Diversified India’s crude oil purchases’

Puri said during the last three years of global energy turmoil, the NDA government deftly diversified India’s crude oil purchases to ensure that petrol prices actually decreased by about 14 per cent and diesel prices fell by nearly 11 percent during November 2021 -May 2024 period.

“During the same period, US saw petrol prices soar 29 percent, while neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced severe financial stress due to spike in global crude prices,” he said.

“Additionally, to maintain availability and affordability of transport fuels, Modi government made a substantial and timely cut in excise duty in November 2021 and followed it up with another cut in May 2022.”

“The central govt reduced petrol and diesel prices by ₹5 per litre and ₹10 per litre, respectively, in November 2021. Following up in May 2022, petrol and diesel prices were further cut by ₹8 per litre and ₹6 per litre, respectively. Again on 14 March, this year, the OMCs played a vital role in reducing prices further by ₹2/litre,” the minister said.

Puri said the BJP-run state governments aligned with the pro-people policies and reduced sales tax on transport fuels to further cut rates for the public and rein in inflationary pressures.

“For instance, petrol prices in Congress-ruled Telangana is ₹12.76/litre higher than in UP. The difference in diesel prices between these two states is also significant at ₹7.89/litre. Similarly, the petrol prices are ₹9.29/ litre higher in Trinamool Congress-run West Bengal compared with BJP-run Gujarat,” he added.

Related: Petrol and diesel prices rise by ₹3 in Karnataka after hike in sales tax

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