The average retail prices of petroleum products has increased by more than 52 percent since 2016, said Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli here on Thursday.
The data released by the Minister revealed that while the average petrol prices have gone up by 52.34 %, the average prices of diesel and LPG have gone up by 64.23 % and 55.97 % respectively. He said the average retail price of petrol was Rs 52.34 in 2016-17, and increased to Rs 98.23 in 2021-22.
Similarly, the average price of Diesel has also increased from Rs 53.24 to Rs 87.44 and LPG price from Rs 549 per cylinder to Rs 857.4 a cylinder, the Minister said.
He said the International prices of Petrol have risen from USD 67.83 per barrel in the year 2017-18 to USD 102.40 per barrel on January 31, this year. Similarly, the International prices of Diesel have also risen from USD 68.19/bbl in the year 2017-18 to USD 104.62/bbl on January 31, this year.
Centre has also notified the National Policy on Biofuels to utilize, develop and promote domestic feedstock and its utilization for production of biofuels targeting 20% ethanol blending in petrol from 2030 to 2025. Another Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) was also launched to establish an ecosystem for production of CBG (Compressed BioGas) from various waste/biomass sources in the country.
The SATAT has also envisaged developing 5000 CBG plants with total CBG production capacity of 15 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA), which is equivalent to 54 MMSCMD of gas by 2023-24, the Minister said.