17 December,2010 06:28 AM IST | | Bipin kumar Singh
While petrol prices have gone up yet again tou00a0Rs 60/L, Jet fuel prices (Rs 47/L) have regularly been trimmed
That petrol prices were hiked a record seven times this year speaks volumes about our ministers' clear priorities.
When it comes to choosing between the jet set and the common man, it is the latter who always takes a beating.
Any news of increase in jet fuel (auto turbine fuel or ATF) prices is protested vehemently by airline companies, and subsequently reduced by oil companies at regular intervals.
Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, has taken up airlines' concerns with the prime minister every now and then.
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But as far as prices of petrol and diesel go, well, it is not really anybody's worry but the man on the street.
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Hikes in these fuels are hardly adequately represented by anyone in the union cabinet, or the state government for that matter, experts feel.
"The oil companies, which have the authority to decide the fuel price, always address the concern of airline companies.
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But they forget the same when they hike the prices of petrol and diesel which is used by the common man," said Captain Akram Baig, an aviation expert.
For perspective, consider the following sequence of events. After six consecutive hikes, petroleum companies announced a 7 per cent reduction in jet fuel prices in June 2010.
In September the same year, they brought down jet fuel prices by another four per cent. In February the year before, a seven per cent cut had been announced. Incidentally, airfares did not go down with any of these price cuts.
The companies then said that the current reduction would add to the losses they are already experiencing, and the government listened.
So people are left to bare not just the current skyrocketing airfares, but also the latest hike in petrol, the seventh this year (see box), by Rs 3, without a single voice of protest in the power corridors.
Cheaper to fly?
As part of the latest rationalisation of fuel prices, oil companies hiked petrol prices by Rs 3 per litre, following which the fuel is perched at its highest of Rs 60.27 per litre.
The companies, though, also increased jet fuel (ATF) prices by 3.6 per cent, taking it to Rs 47,084.40 per thousand litres in Mumbai, as against Rs 45,379.62 before this.
This works out to be approximately Rs 47 per litre for fuel used in airplanes, cheaper than the Rs 60 that you will now have to pay for a litre of petrol, absurdly making flying cheaper than terrestrial travel in terms of fuel consumed.
"The oil companies operate under pressure from the Aviation Ministry.
So they do not increase the price of fuel for airline companies, which always fail to make payments for the fuel they consume, and constantly ask for credit or subsidies.
The common man makes the payment in advance while buying petrol, but the government still increases the prices," said Nitin Dossa, president of Western India Automobile Association.
"No other government in the world has increased fuel prices so frequently. I believe the Transport Ministry fails to address the concerns of the common man who uses diesel and petrol," he said.
Voices
I can only say that airlines are more united in communicating their concerns than the common man is, who always blames the government policy but never comes out to protest it.
Farooq Siddiquie (35), a frequent flier, Malad
Though the cost of vehicles is going down, the prices of petrol and diesel are soaring.u00a0 This is a bad situation for buyers who will hesitate to buy a new automobile because of the hike.
Ashutosh Mishra (29), Vasai
Price Index
In 1989,
Diesel price was 41% of petrol price
Kerosene price was 64% of diesel price
In 2000,
A litre of petrol was Rs 26, kerosene, Rs 6, and diesel Rs 14.
Petrol prices have shot up by
more than 140 per cent in 2010.
In 2010, Diesel price is aroundu00a0
73% of petrol price
Kerosene price is around
33% of diesel price
The Other Side
Despite repeated calls, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Minister of State for Petroleum, Jitin Prasad, and Petroleum Secretary S Sudershan were not available for comment.
Steady Climb Up
In 2010, petrol prices in R per litre experienced a rise in the following manner:
February: Rs 51.68
April: Rs 52.20
July: Rs 55.88
September: Rs 55.97
September: Rs 56.25
October: Rs 57.01
December: Rs 60.07
Rs 47
per litre price for auto turbine fuel used in airplanes
Expert says
Experts have alternate solutions, with some calling for drastic policy changes.u00a0 Sudhir Badami, Mumbai-based transport expert, said, "I would compare a petrol price hike to diesel. The fuel prices must be hiked for diesel as well. And subsidy should be provided to the BMC's public transport operators. Private guzzlers like SUVs must not be given any benefits of fuel price hikes by not hiking diesel prices at all. As regards to air travel, the policy should be to discourage air travel and promote high-speed surface transport since it consumes considerably lesser fuel than airplanes.
