[wilful]

My petrol consumption is in the range of 80 to 100 litres per month. So the hike translates to around Rs.750 per month approx.
But yes the people badly hit are the lower middle income folk.
For instance - the errand boy in the office I work earns around 6000 per month and commutes about 30 kms per day on his motorbike. His total spend on fuel must have been (approx 12 litres a month) in the region of 850 per month which would now go up by 10% i.e. 85. For the young man that is indeed a big chunk.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

Any patriotic person should stop using diesel cars and contribute to the nations wealth. All those using diesel run Mercedes, BMWs, Audis and other such high end cars and SUVs should be ashamed of this fact.

I hope you're joking. As a consumer I am free to exercise my choice and opt for a product that costs less to operate. Where does patriotism come into it?

My garage is petrol only but that was my choice and given the circumstances today I would have certainly bought at least one diesel (check my signature!) That doesn't mean I resent someone driving a CRDI engine and label them "unpatriotic". It's unfair yes, but that's a consequence of the policy, not an indivisual's choice. The issue of price discrimination at fuel pumps etc. as a solution has also no doubt been considered but implementing it would be a nightmare and it will just open the door for more corruption and misuse.

[Mik]

Last year, i was on the road for 28k km (12k in the car and 16k on the bike)
The same amount of running this year will cost me 10000 extra/year.
Not a happy situation, but i am ok with it since the rupee has really taken a beating. Only thing that rankles is paying extra for the diesel car owner.
Really hope that the tax on diesel cars is increased manifold so that atleast some pound of flesh can be extracted. Differential pricing is impossible to implement.

[clevermax]

I started using my Diesel car more often now. Though Petrol car is less used, I have a tendency to run more Kms with the Diesel. So my fuel expenses are actually up. :( But it falls well within 10% of my income so no worries.

[PatchyBoy]

The idea of a dual pricing system for diesel to ensure that farmers get subsidized fuel but SUV owners don't might seem attractive, but is unworkable. The experience with a similar system in kerosene has shown how easily it can be subverted and can give rise to a black market with strong vested interests that are willing to kill to protect their stakes. If the government does want to subsidize farmers while excluding rich urbanites, it perhaps makes more sense to hike the price of diesel to what its cost would demand and provide direct income support to farmers to help them cover some of it.

From here - Rangarajan hints at diesel LPG pricehike

Rajan

[aaggoswami]

For me the figure is 12% approx.

What really hits hard is the massive change. My bike is not giving good FE and it was damaged in my nasty fall in 2010. Right now, the bike has lost power, pickup and FE.
Running the bike is costlier than CNG Wagon R we have.
Regular service of Baleno = Rs. 850
Regular sevice of Zeus ( my bike ) = Rs. 450

So even maintenance is not that cheap.
Overall, the hit has again provoked me to drive Wagon R more than my bike Zeus. Its only on very congested city roads where in I still prefer bike due to parking issues.

A person like me running on a bike, Fuel price = Rs. 77.XX
Relatively well to do, rich guy's diesel ride, fuel price = Rs. 46/-

Is this not unfair ? Those who are not able to afford diesel cars and are on two wheelers have to pay more fuel cost than those running in diesel cars.

PS : I am not anybody running diesel and/or petrol car. Just a thought that those who are not that financially strong have to spend more on fuel price which is unfair IMO. We ourselves have CNG and diesel powered cars. But overall, the cost rise for normal middle class citizens would hit them for sure.

[devsoftech]

Take my case: EMI of 16700 is much higher than 6000-8000 (that is non-reimbursed fuel expense) of petrol every month. Monthly average running is 1000 kms. As the petrol prices will increase, the only way to console myself is to pre-close the loan. I still have 1.5 years to close the loan, and the preclosure will make me feel richer. That's how I plan to "adjust", if I believe fuel bills are eating up into my savings. I have already switched to cycle/scooty for shopping within 5 kms radius (when I can do that task alone) or, for personal errands during weekends.

Btw, I have started car pooling since Jan this year (with a friend enroute, working in a neighbouring company), and both of our managers are open to flexible timings. LOL, wondering if it will affect the appraisals next year and in turn affect my fuel purchasing power.

[musicmanaman]

In terms of pure maths, I would spend about Rs 600-1000 more per month on fuel, but the problem here is more psychological than real, I tend to avoid driving too much on the whole, would have driven much more if I had a Diesel car. There is a certain maths I’m sure everyone did before buying a Petrol car and then depending on the monthly usage and the difference of about 1 lakh opted for either Diesel or Petrol, but this maths was with a difference of about Rs 24-26 per litre, now this difference has gone up to Rs 35 per litre, throwing the maths completely in favour of Diesel, cause the break even on Diesel comes even closer even if you do lesser amount of kms a month, add to this why should you ask yourself to drive less with a Petrol car, while people with Diesel cars enjoy fuel expense of a motorcycle. There is a minimum difference of Rs 4 per km between a Diesel car and a Petrol car, so if one drives even 1000 kms a month it is Rs 4000 more for Petrol, the difference can be recovered in 25 months buying a Diesel, add to that the higher resale the Diesel would command.

Petrol cars have no future in my books, unless the difference between Petrol Cars and Diesel Cars is a minimum 2 lakhs, or the difference is fuel price is capped to a max Rs 20. If the present scenario continues Petrol cars will vanish and only Diesel cars will be seen on our roads in time to come, the government will have a bigger problem then as the whole country would move to Diesel and they will have to subsidise for a far higher amount than they are now.

[wilful]

I've often wondered why the Govt won't consider slapping a substantially higher excise duty or some additional cess on diesel cars/SUVs (maybe call it a diesel cess) vis a vis their equivalent petrol model? The more expensive the car the higher the rate. My impression is that the structure is based on engine capacity/length - do correct me if i am wrong.
That will to a great extent compensate the skew in fuel prices.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by musicmanaman

If the present scenario continues Petrol cars will vanish and only Diesel cars will be seen on our roads in time to come, the government will have a bigger problem then as the whole country would move to Diesel and they will have to subsidise for a far higher amount than they are now.

Precisely. I am all in favour of letting the market completely decide all prices and not have the government intervene. If the market think petrol must be priced at INR 100 to the litre and diesel at INR 50, so be it. But please let the market *alone* decide this.

Yes, this will hit the vast majority of our population really hard. People who can't have 2 square meals a day will now struggle to have 1.

But that doesn't mean we continue to spend our worries away and become Asia's Greece in another 10 years. It's better to cut consumption now and look at alternatives than dig ourselves into a hole we cannot get out of. For a bunch of reasons I've grounded the car for 3+ weeks now and am using the bike. For just a 12-km roundtrip the heat of Gurgaon is easily bearable. We are able to live in a top floor portion with just a cooler and no AC. I agree that in a market economy, consumer choice can and should prevail, but you can't just enjoy entitlement in the absence of a sense of duty/responsibility. We don't have a market economy in energy but we have a "use all you can" attitude towards energy. This is *not* sustainable.

The bitter pill must be swallowed as soon as possible, and we should work towards growth-enhancing policy reforms. Unfortunately, politics has become synonymous with populism now and that pill will never be swallowed.

Regards,
spadix

[lancer_rit]

< 10% for me too. It won't keep me from buying another petrol car :-)

[shankar.balan]

There's a lot of ' holier than thou' on this thread, largely by petrol users. The tone of some of the posts smacks a bit of 'sour grapes' to me. Yes, it is true that there are lots of underprivileged people out there but this is precisely the point. The underprivilege is not of our making! Ask the government what it does with all our taxes rather than point fingers at other joes like ourselves, some of whom may be using Diesel. Using Diesel itself is not a crime because it is subsidized. My suggestion to any petrol user who feels badly in this, is to chuck his petrol vehicle and buy a diesel one, if he feels that badly! But stop pointing fingers at guys who may have Beemers and Mercs or any other. Consider that most MLA's and MP's in this country feel like they are losing their collective mojo's if they are seen driving anything less than a big fat SUV. Alsoconsider the state of the surfaces we drive on before pointing fingers at private SUV owners! This might be an unpopular post, but the truth usually hurts!

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by GTO

However, ask the guy who struggled & bought a Maruti 800 as his first car, using it daily to get to work, and weekends for the family. The impact on his wallet can really pinch.

Good point sir!. Fuel prices in my opinion has to be rationalized, both petrol and desiel. Just because of artificially cheap fuel prices and easy EMI schemes people who actually cannot afford a car/bike have been buying them as if there is no tomorrow. This dangerous trend cannot continue and the nation cannot live on borrowed money. Fuel subsidies are to the tune of Rs 190,000 crores per year where as the govt welfare schemes are Rs 90000 crores and entire defence spending is Rs 109,000crores. We cant spend our foreign exchange (About $300 billion) in buying oil from arab states so that our citizens can guzzle subisdised fuel and go on mid night icecream trips.

Its good if majority of the middle class get back to walking or public transport. If one can afford realistic fuel prices then please drive else do not expect freebies!

[Gansan]

It is about 12% for me too. But I have already been paying Rs 81.50 at Shell, so the PSU hikes are of only academic interest to me. But it does make a pinch as many other things go up in the blink of an eye, and stay up there even if the prices are partly rolled back. Auto fare, share auto fare, professional fees for Electrician/plumber, carpenters, masons - think of any such guy who depends on his two wheeler to visit his clients. Why, even the two-wheeler stand guy near the suburban station hikes the parking rates, citing increased fuel prices!

And all this when the price of diesel is yet to be touched!

[wilful]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Using Diesel itself is not a crime because it is subsidized. My suggestion to any petrol user who feels badly in this, is to chuck his petrol vehicle and buy a diesel one, if he feels that badly! But stop pointing fingers at guys who may have Beemers and Mercs or any other.

I would agree with you here (petrol head though I am) It's like taking advantages of various provisions/loopholes to reduce payable income taxes. Nothing illegal about it. Likewise with diesel users.
Which drives home my earlier point - the case for increased/additional duty structure on diesel cars vis a vis petrol worked in such a way to make it much more even. Luxury cars are bound to be there and they would use either of the fuels. With a better duty regime, there would be less of heartburns about expensive SUVs using the 'subsidised' fuel.