Diesel prices crossed ₹100 per litre in several parts of the State on Sunday. Places including Cuddalore (₹100.91/litre), Chidambaram (₹101.19/litre), Nagapattinam (₹100.35/litre) and Mayiladuthurai (₹100.26/litre) saw prices cross the ₹100/litre mark, a historic high for the fuel, which is used mostly by truckers, industries in generators, and many cab operators.
Petrol prices in all these locations are a little over ₹105/litre. Fossil fuels have been seeing an upward trend over the past few months and on Sunday, diesel increased by 33 paise per litre and petrol went up by 31 paise/litre.
S. Jude Mathew, Independent Rental Vehicle Owners Association, said as most cars give a mileage of 10 km-12 km per lire and at ₹100/litre, they wont be able to earn much. “Cars that used to get 8-10 trips a day are getting just 4 -5 trips daily, which is just about enough to keep the business alive. Since temples had remained closed over the weekends, outstation business too had been hit. The only way out seems to be a reduction in diesel prices by the Central government,” he said.
A dealer said that they were taking the flak for high fuel rise from customers. “With each increase, things have become tougher because consumers are finding it difficult to shell out more on travel. If a person owns a car and has to travel 20 km one-way, he would be spending ₹350 per day just to commute to and from work, which is an enormous chunk of his earnings. It is time that the government decrease excise duty and not keep blaming international crude prices,” he said.
Indian Oil Corporation Chairman S.M.Vaidhya, who was on a visit to the State, told reporters that the price rise was due to increase in demand and also high crude oil prices.
