Fuel price hike: Transporters see around 3 pc increase in freight cost

The increase is described as one-tenth of the hike needed to account for the surge in global energy rates since the start of the West Asia conflict. The article notes that state-owned oil firms had kept fuel price unchanged for 11 weeks despite a surge in input cost, but passed on part of the increase once operations became financially unsustainable, the sources said.

Sunil Agarwal, joint secretary of All India Transporters' Welfare Association, said the hike was expected given the geopolitical situation and estimated around a 3 per cent impact on freight costs. He called on the government to ensure traders do not disproportionately raise product prices, and suggested state governments could reduce local levies to cushion the impact. Indranil Banerjee of the West Bengal Online App Cab Guild said the overall additional cost burden could be around ₹50-60 per day and urged reducing state levies to neutralise the impact.

The article notes that fuel prices vary across states because of differences in value-added tax (VAT).

In Delhi, petrol price increased to ₹97.77 per litre and diesel to ₹90.67; in Mumbai, petrol ₹106.68 and diesel ₹93.14; in Chennai, petrol ₹103.67 and diesel ₹95.25.

In Kolkata, petrol price rose by ₹3.29 to ₹108.74 per litre, and diesel price rose by ₹3.11 to ₹95.13 per litre, the highest increases among the four metros mentioned.

Transport operators in West Bengal stated that the fuel price hike would increase the overall freight cost by around 3 per cent and urged the government to ensure traders do not disproportionately raise product prices.