ATF Costs Less Than Petrol, Diesel: Oil Minister

New Delhi: Aviation turbine fuel (ATF), used in aircraft, costs less than petrol and diesel as the common man auto fuels attract higher excise duty levy, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.

While jet fuel or ATF in Delhi costs Rs 46,513.03 per kilo-litre or Rs 46.51 per litre, petrol is priced at Rs 57.31 a litre. Diesel costs Rs 46.62 a litre.

"Retail selling price of ATF is cheaper than petrol and diesel primarily due to higher excise duty levied by the central government on petrol and diesel in comparison to ATF," he said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha here.

After four duty hikes totalling Rs 7.98 per litre since November, petrol now attracts the highest ever excise rate of Rs 16.95 per litre. Excise duty on diesel is Rs 9.96 per litre. On the other hand, ATF attracts 8 per cent duty.

"Petrol and diesel are primarily automotive fuels used in vehicles while ATF is used in aircraft turbines. The applications of automotive fuels and aircraft fuel are totally different and hence, comparison with respect to superiority of these fuels over one another cannot be made," he said.

The government has freed pricing of all three - petrol, diesel and ATF - from its control and rates are indexed to international markets.

Mr Pradhan said deregulation of petrol and diesel has led to substantial reduction in prices.

"The retail selling price of petrol which was Rs 73.60 per litre at Delhi on July 1, 2014 is now Rs 57.31 per litre. Similarly, the retail selling price of diesel has been reduced from Rs 58.97 per litre at Delhi on August 31, 2014 to Rs 46.62 a litre."

While price of petrol and diesel has been reduced by Rs 16.29 a litre and Rs 12.35 per litre respectively, the increase in excise duty was Rs 7.98 a litre and Rs 6.70 per litre respectively, "indicating that a major component of the benefit of reducing international crude oil prices has been passed on to the consumers".