Petrol In India: Just How Expensive Is It When Compared To The Other Nations?

Truth be known, petrol in India isn’t simply a commodity; where the last twelve to eighteen months stand, then it has largely turned into a pain point. Clearly speaking, ever since the start of 2022, there hasn’t been a single quarter where the prices of petrol in India haven’t soared or simply put, where we, the hapless lot, haven’t experienced an ascension in their prices.

What we are largely, left with, therefore, is a situation that borders on a state of helplessness, one where there isn’t really option other than loosening one’s wallet.

Not the ideal situation though- right?

What’s also true is that the constantly rising prices of diesel and petrol in India have led to a situation where the government is under pressure, there arising a situation where it has to go through some bit of answerability.

Now here’s a strange situation.

While none of us really know as to when the state or the central governments would be lowering the prices of diesel and petrol, for the last time that it happened, it was just prior to the state elections (evidenced earlier in 2022), what’s certain is that there should be some lowering of taxes.

That is in order to keep the rising prices of petrol in India under check. What hasn’t helped the case of our country is that there’s been a rise in the price of crude (oil), with India largely being an importer in this day and age. Adding insult to injury is the situation where there has also been an appreciation in the value of the US dollar.

But having said that, while we know that the prices of petrol in India are soaring ever so steadily, ever considered as to where does the country stand in this context when compared to the other nations?

That said, here are some interesting insights as published from the Business Standard publication:

The report of Bank of Baroda Economic Research juxtaposed petrol prices as of May 9 in various countries with the per capita income.

“For a set of 106 countries for which data is available, the price in India at USD 1.35 per litre is 42nd in rank. Hence there are over 50 countries where the price is higher. This should provide some comfort that in absolute terms India is not an outlier. The median price was around USD 1.22 a litre,” it said.

It is lower than Hong Kong, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, France, Portugal and Norway where it is above USD 2 per litre.

Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.

“India’s petrol price does not now look too much out of place. However, when juxtaposed with the per capita income, it can be seen that wherever prices are higher, the per capita income is much higher than in India.

“Therefore, the economic pain caused is much higher for countries with low per capita income as its direct and indirect effect on inflation is higher which in turn impacts the lower-income groups the most,” the report said.

Moving on, it’s important to note that where it stand at the moment, then the fuel prices in India are nearly level with those in nations such as Australia, South Korea and Turkey!

Moreover, the following is where the prices of petrol in India stand in the country’s national capital (New Delhi):

Petrol in New Delhi currently costs Rs 105.41 a litre and diesel is priced at Rs 96.67 per litre.