How much taxes you pay on petrol and diesel? Here is a break down

The taxes levied by the central and state governments on petrol and diesel are again on the spotlight with domestic petrol prices hitting record highs. In Delhi, petrol prices today retailed at ₹84.70 a litre while diesel was retailing at ₹74.88 per litre, after an overnight hike of 25 paise. Besides taxes, in India, the price of petrol and diesel you pay at the pump is dependent on international product prices, rupee-dollar exchange rate and other factors like dealer margin and freight charges. Petrol and diesel do not come under the purview of goods and services tax (GST).

Based on the January 1 price of petrol in Delhi of ₹83.71 per litre, the base price of the fuel was ₹27.37 per litre, according to Indian Oil website. Including freight levy of ₹0.37 per litre, price charged to dealers (excluding excise duty and VAT) was ₹27.74 per litre.

Add to it excise duty of ₹32.98 per litre and dealer commission, which averaged ₹3.67 per litre. On this, further add VAT or value added tax (including VAT on dealer commission) of ₹19.32 per litre. Then comes the final retail selling price of petrol of ₹83.71 a litre ((January 1 price) in Delhi.

Diesel

Let us consider January 1 diesel retail selling price of ₹73.87 per litre in Delhi. According to Indian Oil website, the base price was ₹28.32 per litre. Add to it freight charges of ₹0.34 litre, the price charged to dealers (excluding Excise Duty and VAT) comes to ₹28.66 per litre. Then add excise duty of ₹31.83 per litre, dealer commission (average) ₹2.53 litre and VAT (including VAT on Dealer Commission) ₹10.85 litre, the final retail selling price in Delhi comes to about ₹73.87 per litre (January 1 price).

India's fuel consumption in December rose for a fourth straight month as economic activity and transport demand continued to recover from a coronavirus-led hiatus.

Petrol and diesel rates are to be revised on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.

The central government had raised excise duty by ₹13 per litre on petrol and by ₹15 a litre on diesel in two instalments in March 2020 and May 2020 to meet the expense of coronavirus fight.