Even though the rising fuel costs are pinching each and everyone out here, we really can’t do much about it other than rant because everyone requires their vehicles to take them from one place to another. Right from an average income guy who rides his 100cc bike to work everyday to the business tycoon who travels in his Rs. 1 crore SUV, each one of us consumes fuel no matter what the costs are. Hence, according to a recent study by Nielsen it has been deduced that SUVs and other high-end cars are the biggest consumers of diesel.
Diesel prices are still regulated in India and hence the Government gives out a subsidy of Rs. 8.47/- per litre. However, according to the study, high-end cars are the ones that use up over 13% of the total diesel that is available. Commercial vehicles like buses and trucks use 8.94% of diesel while agricultural tractors and pumps consume 13% of diesel. Diesel is also used by industries and mobile towers who consume 9% and 1.54% respectively. The Government introduced subsidies for diesel so that it could be used as a cheaper fuel by those who found petrol expensive but it seems that the actual users of this subsidy are owners of high-end vehicles who can very well do without the subsidy.
India consumed 69.08 million tonne diesel in the previous year and a total sum of Rs. 92,061 crores was spent on fuel subsidies by the Government. The population of two-wheelers is a lot more than four-wheelers in our country and hence these two-wheelers are the biggest consumers of petrol. Out of the total petrol that is sold in India, around 61.42% is used by two-wheelers and 34.33% by four-wheelers. The high prices of petrol are not affordable by people in rural areas and hence sales of two-wheelers have already started getting affected.
With the high prices of petrol and the possible de-regulation of diesel prices in the near future, people have started shifting to alternative fuels like CNG which is a very good and cheap option. However, the future can’t be predicted and the fate of CNG prices also remains unknown. If the Government increases the prices of all fuels then it will become really difficult for many citizens to use their own vehicles for commute. Public transport too needs to be improvised if the Government really wants to reduce fuel consumption in the country.
