No directive from govt to control fuel prices, says IOCL Chairman

Mumbai: As petrol and diesel prices reached record high, Indian Oil Corporation Chairman on Tuesday stated that there was no directive from the government to control fuel price.

Indian Oil Corporation chairman Sanjiv Singh said, "Spikes (in prices) were happening earlier and we decided to hold the prices for 19 days.”

Sanjiv Singh stressed on bringing petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in order to provide relief to common people from the ongoing spurt in fuel prices across the nation. “All the petroleum products should come under GST (Goods and Services Tax)," he said.

Currently, crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) are not included in GST, which kicked off on July 1, 2017.

"Government has given us freedom to revise prices on day to day basis, we took a call," he added. Petrol price on Tuesday touched a record high of Rs 76.87 per litre, while that of diesel stood at Rs 68.08 in New Delhi as oil firms raised prices for the ninth day in a row.

The price of petrol went up by 30 paise a litre and diesel by 26 paise in Delhi, according to a notification issued by state-owned oil firm Indian Oil Corporation.
Prices in Delhi are the cheapest among all metros and most State capitals.

Petrol stood at Rs 84.70 a litre in Mumbai, Rs 79.79 in Chennai and Rs 79.53 in Kolkata and diesel prices were Rs 72.48 in Mumbai, Rs 71.87 in Chennai and Rs 70.63 in Kolkata.