The oil ministry on Thursday indicated that the government could consider a cut in duties to provide some relief to motorists if global crude prices continue to spike.
Petrol prices in Delhi scaled an all time high of Rs 84.20 per litre on Thursday while diesel in Mumbai touched a record high of Rs 81.07.
Data showed that a motorist in Calcutta would have to pay Rs 85.68 for a litre of petrol and Rs 77.97 for a litre of diesel.
The price of petrol rose 24 paise per litre and diesel by 27 paise a litre in Calcutta in a day, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies.
Oil ministry sources said they have suggested that an excise duty cut can be considered. However, the finance ministry would have to take a call given its fiscal and inflationary impact.
Petrol had last touched Rs 84 in Delhi on October 4, 2018. On that day, diesel too had scaled an all-time high of Rs 75.45 a litre.
The government had then responded by cutting excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflationary pressure and boost consumer confidence.
Alongside, state-owned fuel retailers had cut prices by another Re 1 a litre, which they recouped later.
As excise duty is one of the two major components of the prices of fuel, a cut in the duty will provide relief to people who are facing the heat of economic slowdown and income disruption because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the survey conducted by Local Circles, a community social media platform.
After the festive season, retail fuel prices saw an upward trend at the end of November 2020 and starting December 6, 2020, there was a month-long pause on prices.
Even though retail rates are connected to international product prices and are calculated on a 15-day lag, starting January 6 the retail prices began to increase across India.
The Centre had raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 13 per litre and diesel by Rs 16 per litre in two tranches in March and May of 2020, when the global crude prices plunged because of the Covid-19 lockdown, impacting demand.
