Visakhapatnam: Petrol and diesel prices in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Kurnool in AP are higher than cities in the neighbouring states of Telangana, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. As a result the sales in the state are affected.

Recently, the AP government had increased the Value Added Tax by Rs 4 per litre on the sale of petrol and diesel. The current price of petrol is Rs 65.56 and the price of diesel is Rs 53.97 per litre in Vizag. In Vijayawada, the prices are Rs 65.84 and Rs 54.42 respectively.

Meanwhile, in Odisha's Bhubaneswar, petrol costs Rs 58.84 per litre, while diesel costs Rs 51.36. In Hyderabad, petrol and diesel sell for Rs 64.65 and Rs 52.72 respectively. Similarly, in Chennai, the prices are Rs 59.85 for petrol and and Rs 49.58 for diesel. In Bengaluru, petrol costs Rs 62.81 and diesel Rs 50.72.

The AP government, to increase its revenue by Rs 180 crore a year, had increased petrol and diesel prices. Leaders of the Visakhapatnam Petrol Dealers’ Association D. Babji and T. Narayana Reddy said that the cost of a diesel was less by Rs 2 in AP when compared to Telangana till February 6, 2015.

Currently, the cost of diesel is Rs 1.25 less in Telangana. Similarly, the cost of diesel is Rs 2.81 less in Odisha, Rs 4.39 less in Tamil Nadu and Rs 3.25 less in Karnataka when compared to AP. The immediate beneficiaries are the petrol pumps in neighbouring states.

Due to the fuel price difference, at least 25 per cent of the vehicles (inter-state vehicles) fill fuel in the neighbouring states before entering AP. Over a period of time, the consumption of diesel will drop in AP. Speaking to this correspondent, B. Santosh Kumar, a trucker who holds a national permit and on an average covers 300 km, said that he tanks up at least 100 litre of diesel a day in Odisha due to lower prices there.