Diesel Price Hike: IA Hashmi

The federal government had decided a few years ago that the prices of petroleum products would be fixed every fortnight keeping in view the trend of the global market. Since then, on the fifteenth and last day of every month, the old rate is maintained or the new rate is announced. Due to ongoing tension and crisis in the Middle East, the government has announced the new prices of petroleum products for the next fifteen days (October 16 to October 31). The price of diesel has been increased by five rupees, after which the new price of high speed diesel has become 251 rupees 29 paise per liter. The price of petrol remains at Rs 247 three paise per litre. In the global market, the price of petrol has increased by an average of $2.8 per barrel and the price of high-speed diesel by seven dollars per barrel in the last two weeks. 

The global price of petrol is around 79 dollars per barrel and diesel prices have gone up to 87.5 dollars per barrel. In the recent fortnight, the import premium on petrol and high-speed diesel remained stable at $8.7 and $5 per barrel, respectively. During the last few months, the prices of petroleum products continued to decrease in the international markets, due to which the domestic prices also continued to decrease. From June 1, 2024 till now, the government has reduced the price of petrol by a total of Rs. It has been observed that despite the decrease in petrol products, the burden of inflation on the people does not decrease. All possible measures should be taken in this regard as well. Ogra has proposed to increase the profit of oil marketing companies on petrol and diesel to Rs.922 paise per liter and dealers' profit to be increased to Rs.10.4 paise.