Bhubaneswar: With persistent hike in diesel prices for over 19 days, the retail price of essential goods is very likely to go northward in Odisha, a consuming state.
Vegetable prices have already increased as many items including potato, onion and tomato are being imported from other states. Potato is being sold at a price of Rs 28-30 per kg while the price of onion is Rs 18-20 per kg and tomato at Rs 45 to 50 per kg.
If fuel price continues to rise, it will also escalate the prices of essential commodities like dal, edible oil, wheat, sugar etc in coming days, said local traders.
All Odisha Traders’ Association Secretary Sudhakar Panda said the rising trend of fuel prices is not a healthy sign as it will directly affect the prices of essential commodities.
“The fuel price hike has already impacted the prices of essential commodities as transport cost is rising. If petrol and diesel prices continue to rise, the overall situation is likely to worsen further,” said Panda.
Admitting that there would be impact of fuel price hike on essential commodities, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said his department is closely monitoring the situation and there is no shortage of commodities in the state.
All Odisha Truck Owners Association secretary Rabi Satpathy said, “40 per cent of the trucks are off the road due to lockdown and this fuel price hike added to our woes.”
If fuel price hike is not rolled back, the association will stop transportation of goods, he warned.
Meanwhile, calculations demonstrate that the Union government is collecting total tax of Rs 32.98 on every litre of petrol and Rs 31.83 on per litre of diesel. On top of it, the Odisha government charges 32 per cent VAT on petrol and 28 per cent on diesel. According to official sources, the state government is getting taxes of around Rs 17 per litre on petrol and Rs 15 per litre on diesel.