The prices of petrol and diesel have been slashed to the levels that prevailed nearly two months ago in Andhra Pradesh, following the reduction in the excise duty by the Central government. However, the State government has not announced any price cut so far.
On March 22, the price of petrol was ₹110.79 per litre while the same for diesel was ₹96.87 in Vijayawada. A week later, the prices increased to ₹116.04 and ₹101.89 respectively.
After the Centre announced cut in the excise duty —₹8 per litre on petrol and ₹6 per litre on diesel—on Saturday, the per litre prices of petrol and diesel in Vijayawada were ₹111.33 and ₹99.12 on Sunday.
On Saturday, a litre of petrol was sold at ₹120.86 and a litre of diesel was sold at ₹106.50 in the city.
The excise cut translated into retail prices on these fuels dropping by ₹9.53 per litre of petrol and ₹7.38 on a litre diesel, giving a slight relief to consumers.
However, prices of essential commodities have increased during the past two months due to the cascading effect of rising fuel prices.