Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged on January 12, according to a price announcement by state- possessed energy retailers. The rates have been stationary thanks to the loftiest- ever excise duty cut by the Centre to bring them down from record highs.

The government cut the duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre on November 3. Following this, numerous countries and Union Homes cut original deals duty or value- added duty ( Handbasket) to give farther relief to consumers.

The rearmost on the list was Delhi that reduced the Handbasket on petrol from 30 percent to19.4 percent from December 1 night, lowering the price by around Rs 8 per litre in the megacity to Rs95.41. The rate remained the same on January 12. Diesel price also remained unchanged in Delhi at Rs86.67 per litre.

In Mumbai, the November 4 decline had brought the price of petrol down to Rs109.98 a litre, which remains unchanged. Diesel price also stayed put at Rs94.14 per litre.

In Kolkata, petrol and diesel prices remained at Rs104.67 per litre and Rs89.79 per litre, independently.

Chennai vended a litre of petrol at the same price of Rs101.40. Diesel price also remained unchanged at Rs91.43 per litre.
The countries and Union Homes that had gone for the Handbasket reduction after the excise duty cut by the Centre include Ladakh, Karnataka, Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Mizoram, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Daman and Diu.

Coming in line were Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Gujarat, Nagaland, Punjab, Goa, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has blazoned a concession of Rs 25 per litre on petrol and diesel prices for two-wheelers possessed by the poor in the state from Republic Day. Soren made the advertisement on the completion of two times of the JMM- led coalition government in the state on December 29.

Countries that have so far not lowered the Handbasket include those ruled by the Congress and its abettors – Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Trinamool Congress- ruled West Bengal, Left- ruled Kerala, TRS- led Telangana and YSR Congress- ruled Andhra Pradesh have also refused to follow suit.

Congress- ruled Punjab has seen the biggest reduction in the price of petrol in the country after it cut Handbasket the most while Ladakh witnessed the largest reduction in diesel rates.