PATNA: Soaring petrol and diesel prices are burning a hole in the pockets of consumers in the state capital. The city has been witnessing an upward trend in the petroleum product prices for the last few days. Petrol was Rs80.59 per litre at city outlets on Wednesday compared to Rs80.18 on last Saturday.Petrol prices are expected to rise further because of likely increase in the international crude prices, Bihar Petroleum Dealers Association (BPDA) president Prabhat Kumar Sinha told this newspaper on Wednesday. “Petrol price has gradually increased 10 to 20 paise every day. It was Rs80.18 per litre on April 21, Rs80.36 on April 22, Rs80.46 on April 23 and remained constant at Rs80.59 per litre on April 24 and 25,” he said and added, “We hope the central government relaxes the excise duty rate as this will help maintain consistency in fuel prices.”The BPDA president said in terms of hike in petrol prices, Bihar remains below Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chennai, but the fuel has been costlier in the state compared to Kolkata, Jharkhand and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. A petrol pump owner in the city also said fuel prices are expected to rise further in May.Explaining the economics behind fuel price rise, Prof DM Diwakar, the head of economics division at A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies in the city, said: “In 2014, when Modi government came to power, the prices of crude oil went down drastically from US$115 to US$29 per barrel. But very nominal reductions, of around Rs5-10 per litre, were made in the petrol prices. Now, the government has to increase the prices as it will be difficult to subsidize the demands.”He said the crude oil price on April 24 was US$67.7 per barrel and this is expected to go up to US$77.7 per barrel. That will lead to an upsurge in the prices of petrol and other related commodities. “If the government does not reduce the petrol price, all sectors are bound to suffer huge losses because the transportation cost will increase,” Prof Diwakar said.“One of the factors driving up the petrol prices is that the country’s economy is yet to pick up after demonetisation and implementation of GST,” he added.One Sudhir Kumar Mishra, who was buying petrol at a fuel station near Gandhi Maidan, said, “The common man has no other choice than surviving the unsystematic ebbs and flows of government actions.”

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