[clevermax]

I remember filling Diesel for Rs. 11 per liter in our Zen-D. The car used to give an FE of 24-28 kmpl. This was around 23 years ago.

The per-kilometer running cost of the car was less than that of the Scooter (Bajaj Chetak) we had. It was just 40 paisa per kilometer.

[sumeethaldankar]

In 1984 I remember my dad would stick a 50 rs note out of the car window at the petrol pump for filliing up close to 5 litres of fuel in those days. Now if I try to do the same they will probably search for an eye dropper to use to fill the fuel in my car

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Reviving an old thread. I remember petrol at less than a rupee a litre. In 1967 or thereabouts and certainly in 1968 it was Rs 0.98 a litre. That year it became 1.00 a litre. In real purchasing power that is like petrol at ~Rs 40 a litre today. This is to say in real terms fuel is about twice as expensive to day compared to the pre-1973 oil price crises. In 1990 when I bought my first car, a Padmini, the price was ~Rs 10 per litre which adjusted for inflation is around Rs 79 today!! i.e. in real terms it is no more costlier today than it was in 1990.

Quoting my own post from 14 months ago given the ire today over high fuel prices in India when the import prices are much softer.

In 1982 petrol cost around Rs 5 a litre (can't recall the exact price). My Lambretta took 6 or 7 litres or so I think. A full tank with the lubricating oil cost just around 2% of my then net take home salary of Rs 1600 odd give or take a little. Compared to thirty years ago petrol is roughly as expensive today {adjusted for inflation} as it was then. The more things change the more they stay the same!!!

[Mountainman21]

I recall I used to pay Rs. 19 per liter + 2 rupees for mobile oil for my Bajaj Chetak scooter in 1998. I used to find it damn expensive.

When I was teaching my young cousin to ride, I used to ask him one liter of fuel as my fee. He still scolds me to this day for charging him.

Most recent memory is INR 40 per liter in 2008 due to low crude oil prices.

[discoverwild]

Early 80s, remember filling a litre of petrol for Rs.3.50 on my dad's Lambretta. 1989-90 - Rs. 7.50 for my Luna, between 12-17 through 4 years of college.

[anjan_c2007]

I had paid Re 1.80 np per litre for petrol, prior to the oil shock of 1973. The shock jacked up its price to Rs 3.15 per litre during the winter of 1973.

The brand new Indian cars in showrooms then were the Premier President, Ambassador Mark II, Standard Herald Mark III (four door)(The Gazel was yet to debut) and the only MUV from Mahindra, the CJ 4 A (the FC 160 was a mini truck). The Willys and their later Jeep years were over for M&M. Before badging them as Mahindra in mid 1978, there was a gap when between 1973 -78, when there was no badging at all on the MUV. The VIN plate however recorded the manufacturer and Mahindra and Mahindra

Back to petrol prices, in the late 1980's while discussing matters among friends, one of them remarked that "petrol may touch Rs 20=00 per litre soon." It was around Rs 17=00 per litre then.

And lastly, while discussing the old days with my Landmaster's first owner in 2003 (he parted with the car after 48 years of continuous ownership 1955-2003), he was saying that when his car was brand new in 1955, petrol used to cost Re 0=53 np a litre and remained that way for many years later on, increasing by a few paise on a few occasions.

[ajay99]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Quoting my own post from 14 months ago given the ire today over high fuel prices in India when the import prices are much softer.
Compared to thirty years ago petrol is roughly as expensive today {adjusted for inflation} as it was then. The more things change the more they stay the same!!!

Taking into consider Purchasing Power Parity(PPP) and inflation, petrol is much cheaper compared to 1989-1990. It was around 10-11 per litre.So ideally it should have been around 200 per litre. But diesel is definitely expensive because it was available at a hefty discount to petrol.

[tharian]

I remember it being around the 35/- mark during 02-03. I remember that, since my Bullet when it was new used to give me the same figure per km.

[creative420]

I very specifically remember the price for year 1998 when I used to sneak away with my brother's Kinetic Honda scooter. I had to wait to save enough money to put fuel in. The oddo and the fuel guage was broken, but my brother's mind oddo knew exactly how many kms worth of fuel the scooter had. People used to shake their scooter/bikes in those days to calculate that. It used to hover around 27-28 in Ahmedabad during those days.

[nandrive]

I distinctly remember one incident with respect to the price of diesel around mid nineties, it was bit less than 8 rupees. My father had gotten me a video game device by paying 200rps, on the way back home we went to a petrol pump to fill up. I was playing on the new device sitting on the bike, the pump attendent asked how much the device costed. My father told 200rp, he said you could have bought 25 Liters of diesel. My father told this generation kids don't know the value of money��

[rajshenoy]

Lowest I remember is I guess around 25ish during my college days. Yet, I remember the struggle to refuel RX135 (+ oil) and it was always rounded off to 10 or 20 rupee.

[amol4184]

My parents remember petrol being below Rs. 5/ l. I remember lowest being 35.

What we all agree though is that regardless of time frame, fuel was always expensive. Middle class never had it easy as far as fuel goes.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Aroy

I must have mentioned it before. The lowest I paid was around 65 paise way back in 1969 when I bough my Jawa. Sadly it increased to a rupee within six months.

"Sadly it increased to a rupee within six months."

Wow, I really didn't think there so many BHPians who paid less than Rs.20/L.

[jkrishnakj]

My memory goes back to 1989 where I used to pay 8 or 9 per litre for my Hero Puch. It’s just gone up 10 times in 4 decades. And those were the days where money deposited in NSC at the post office used to double every 4 years.

[matchvan]

Hi all...
Remember it like yesterday..
1991, Timbhurni enroute to Shirdi..
We paid 5 rs 30 paise per litre of diesel