The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Murli Deora informed the Lok Sabha in a reply  that the refining of crude oil is a process industry where crude oil, which constitutes around 90% of the total cost, is processed through numerous processing units such as Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), Vacuum Distillation Unit(VDU), Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCC), Hydro-cracker, Coker unit, Lube Unit etc.  Each of these units produces intermediate products streams, which require extensive reprocessing and blending.  The blending of intermediate products streams from various process units for making finished petroleum products results in difficulty in allocating the total joint costs to individual refined products with reasonable accuracy.  Therefore, individual product-wise costs are not identified separately.

The rates of Excise Duty, Customs Duty and Sales Tax/VAT(at Delhi) on Petrol are given below:

01.03.2007 01.03.2008 05.06.2008 27.02.2010
Excise Duty 6% plus

Rs. 13/ltr

 Rs. 14.35/ltr Rs. 13.35/ltr Rs. 14.35/ltr
Customs Duty 7.5% 7.5% 2.5% 7.5%
Sales Tax/VAT 20% 20% 20% 20%

To ease the burden on the consumer, the retail selling price of Petrol is not being maintained in line with the international oil prices.  As per international oil prices applicable for the 2nd fortnight of April, 2010, retail price of Petrol in Delhi should be Rs. 54.61 per litrewhereas it is Rs. 47.93 per litre