The prices of cooking gas, diesel and petrol have once again moved up after a gap of nearly five months. The price of domestic cooking gas has gone up by ₹50 per 14.2-kg cylinder to touch ₹956.50 in Kochi, said a dealer here. At the same time, the price of diesel has gone up to ₹92.31 per litre and the price of petrol has gone up to ₹105.08 per litre. The price of petrol has been hiked by 88 paisa and that of diesel by 85 paisa per litre.
The price of small cylinders of five-kg capacity now stands at ₹352 while that of the composite 10-kg cylinder at ₹673.50. The price of non-domestic 19-kg cylinders used by hoteliers and commercial institutions has fallen to touch ₹2,000.50.
A petroleum dealer said the fall in the value of rupee and rise in the price of crude oil could lead to further rise in the prices of petroleum fuels in the near term. He said the price of petrol could go up to ₹120 a litre and that of diesel to about ₹110 per litre if the current trends continued.
Immediate effect
One of the immediate effects of the rise in fuel price is the increased expenses that will be borne by households as well as commuters. Anusha R., a housewife in Kochi, said the price hike in both petrol and cooking gas would hit the domestic budget. While the cost of LPG has gone up substantially, the petrol price hike will hit the budget for daily use of her two-wheeler between home and office, she added.
B. Sunesh, a hotelier, said there has been a general spiral in the price of meat, especially chicken, eggs, and milk. The hike in transport cost can hit the industry which has been trying to survive through the pandemic situation. The hospitality and catering industry was one of the worst hit by the pandemic lockdowns, he added.
Hotelier Azeez Moosa in Kochi said the cost of inputs like cooking oil had risen sharply over the week, which put the industry under tremendous pressure. The increase in fuel cost can further aggravate the situation, he said.
N.H. Shameed, a wholesale vegetable dealer here, said transporters were yet to demand increased payments for their service. As of now, vegetables like big onions coming from markets like Pune were costing a fortune on transport. The diesel price rise will definitely prompt transporters to demand higher rates, he said. A kilogram of vegetables reaching the Ernakulam main market now costs about ₹1 per kg in transport expense. It can now go up to ₹1.50 to ₹2 per kg, he said. The cost now averaged about ₹100 to ₹140 per 50 to 70-kg packets, he said.
