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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Petrol-diesel cost gap widens; environment pays the price by Sandeep Joshi

Petrol-diesel cost gap widens; environment pays the price by Sandeep Joshi

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published Published on Sep 18, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 18, 2011

30 per cent of cars sold last year were with diesel engines

The growing gap between the prices of petrol and diesel has given a boost to the sale of diesel cars even as environmentalists cry foul over the public health impact due to the increasing use of diesel, which is also referred to as “dirty fuel” in Indian cities.

While petrol consumers are paying market-linked prices of Rs. 66.84 per litre (in Delhi) after the latest hike of Rs.3 per litre, the Government is bearing a Rs.6 per litre burden on sale of diesel which is being sold at Rs.41.29 per litre in Delhi – a difference of around Rs.25 per litre.

While linking diesel prices with the international crude market will still keep this “dirty fuel” cheaper from petrol, it is the running cost of a diesel vehicle (which is less than half of a petrol car) that is prompting people to go for diesel cars in India. Industry experts say last year over 25 lakh cars were sold, of which over 30 per cent were equipped with diesel engines. They predict that by 2017 when the total car sales cross 56 lakh per year, more than 50 per cent will be diesel.

Buyers are overwhelmingly in favour of buying diesel variants. For instance, India's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki has seen the sale of diesel versions of its popular models, like the Swift and Ritz hatchbacks or SX4 sedan, skyrocketing. Today the petrol-diesel sale ratio of these models is 20:80 despite the fact that a diesel car is around Rs.1 lakh costlier than its petrol version.

However, this growing fascination for diesel cars has left environmentalists worried, who point out that increasing dieselisation of Indian cities is leading to a rise in levels of hazardous pollutants like suspended particles, NOx and ozone, thereby impacting people's lives indirectly.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international regulatory agencies, diesel particulates are toxic air contaminants and human carcinogens. The cancer-causing potential of diesel particulates and emissions is several times higher than some of the worst known air toxics, says Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and head of Centre for Science and Environment's air pollution control team.

“The current emissions standards in India legally allow diesel cars to emit more particulate matter and nitrogen oxides – the most serious pollutants of concern in our city's air. This will worsen pollution levels that are already fast approaching dangerous heights not only in big cities but also in the smaller cities and towns of India. India is dieselising without clean diesel (diesel with 10 ppm sulphur diesel and advanced emissions control systems),” she says.

Ms. Roychowdhury also points out that while the fuel tax differential has been officially justified in the name of agriculture and freight, rich car owners have benefited more from it. Cars have already become the second biggest user of diesel and beneficiaries of the official fuel tax policy. Cars use up 15 per cent of the total diesel in the country – compared to 12 per cent by buses and agriculture each, 10 per cent by industry, and 6 per cent by the railways, she adds.

Stating that several official committees have asked for special and additional taxes on diesel cars to neutralise the incentive of cheaper diesel fuel, Ms. Roychowdhury points out that many countries have taken various fiscal measures to discourage diesel in cars.In Denmark, diesel cars are taxed higher to offset the lower prices of diesel fuel, while in China, taxes do not differentiate between petrol and diesel. Similarly, Sri Lanka has imposed very high duties for diesel cars, she adds.


The Hindu, 18 September, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2464063.ece


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