In a major blow to residents of Jharkhand, the price of petrol at pumps on the outskirts of Ranchi touched Rs 100 a litre on Saturday while those located within the capital are selling fuel at eight paise less, the unprecedented rise threatening to have cascading effect on cost of commodities and public transport.
On Saturday, a litre petrol was selling for Rs 99.92 a litre at pumps within the city. Diesel on the other hand was being sold at Rs 99.44 a litre, said Pramod Kumar, the spokesperson of Jharkhand Petroleum Dealers' Association.
He, however, maintained that a handful of pumps on Ranchi outskirts (Ring Road) beyond a 25-km radius from the city were already selling for Rs 100.
"In Ranchi, we are only 8 paisa short of touching Rs 100 for petrol, and 56 paise short for diesel. But, two-three pumps along the Ring Road are selling petrol at Rs 100.11per litre. This difference is due to the distance from the main stockyard of the fuel company," he said adding that going by persent trends, the price will touch Rs 100 in Ranchi too.
On October 14, petrol was selling at Rs 99.27 per litre and diesel at Rs 98.71 per litre.
Commuters and transporters blamed both the Union and state governments for leaving people in the lurch.
Rakesh Mishra, a Zomato delivery boy, said his earnings had dipped due to the hikes. "Because of the price hikes, I had transitioned to cycle for delivering and stopped using a bike to save on fuel cost. However, I am losing out on my commission as cycling for delivery is time consuming. For me, it's a Catch 22 situation," he said.
Md Iftikar, a salesman at Main Road, who uses autos to commute, said that in last three months, his travel cost had more than doubled while his salary has remained the same. "From Dhurwa to Main Road, I used to spend Rs 15 per trip. Now, citing covid lockdown and fuel price hikes, auto fares have gone up and I almost spend double the amount per trip," he said.
An official of Ranchi Bus Owners' Association said that they were considering fare hikes across routes. "A meeting has been scheduled with all bus operators to take a call," he said.
