GK: We are paying a wooping 153% tax on petrol!!

We are paying 150% tax on petrol!! Good GK and GDPI point. During GDPI stage on talks about developement everyone will gaga over the India’s growth in the last few years but This one point will make you stand out of the group. Given current crude prices and dollar-rupee exchange rates, the cost of petrol supplied by oil companies inclusive of their marketing charges is approx Rs 29 per litre. But in Mumbai, consumers end up paying Rs.77 per litre owing to a raft of duties and cess. So consumers here pay almost Rs 48 per litre in taxes and duties over and above the price at which it lands in the market. These levies include central excise duty , state VAT, octroi, cess and commission for petrol pump owners, translating into 153 % in taxes. Its evident that the government is trying to boost its revenues by hiking the cess on petrol. At a time when its debt level has crossed a virtually unsustainable Rs 4.13 lakh crore, it has reached a stage in which it cannot afford to increase borrowings to fund additional expenditure. Extra duties and cess on goods within its ambit (GST will soon reduce its elbow room) may be the only option. Opinions on the impact of the hike in petrol rates are divided. Some say it will have an effect on prices, especially of goods and services delivered at the door. Others, however, insist that in the existing scenario, a rise in petrol prices will not have a big effect on inflation considering it is not the fuel used by freighters and transporters. Whatever might be your opinion it makes a good argument point for the GDPI stage.