Hike or no hike, Mumbai keeps guzzling; fuel consumption up by 5%

Petrol prices have increased for the fifth time this year. But Mumbai is unperturbed. The city guzzles petrol, irrespective of the price. In fact, petrol and diesel sales have been steadily rising over the years.

“After every hike, sales dip — but that is just for a week or so,” Ravi Shinde, president of Petrol Dealers’ Association, said on Friday. “Thereafter business is back to normal. To be honest, the volume sales of petrol and diesel have been rising.”

Mumbai has 250 petrol pumps with each registering a sale of 10 kilolitres of petrol and 6 kilolitres of diesel every day on average. The price of petrol has reached Rs74 from Rs63 at the start of the year and the price of diesel has risen from Rs42 a litre in November 2010 to Rs46 a litre now.

Shinde said there was a sharp dip in petrol consumption in the 1990s when CNG was introduced and all taxis switched to CNG. “There was a 30% drop in sales then,” he said.

The figures with oil companies show a rise in fuel sales in the city. “Despite the hikes, consumption of petrol has gone up by 5% compared to last year,” a BPCL spokesperson said. “Diesel sales are better — it has increased by 11.5% this year compared to last year’s 10%.”  

For governments at the Centre and the state, every hike brings with it a windfall of profit because of various taxes that roughly work out to almost 50%. “Instead of the various taxes that are levied currently, the government should standardise it,” Shinde said. “Once that happens, consumers will have to bear only the fluctuation in fuel costs and not the taxes.”

For every Mumbaikar who has a car or/and a two-wheeler the hikes hardly matter. They continue with their usual quota of petrol or diesel whatever be the price. Sunil Kamath from Vashi takes his car to office (Worli) every day. For him, the latest hike, about Rs2, translates into an additional monthly expense of Rs300. He will now shell out Rs11,100 every month compared to the Rs10,800 he was paying before the hike. At the start of the year, his monthly petrol bill was Rs9,450. “Yes, the increase in the price does hurt; but I have no choice,” he said.

Public transport would cost a fraction of the money Kamath spends on petrol. “But the system is so shabby that it can hardly be an alternative,” he said.