India’s low-income front-line workers burned by rising fuel prices

Federal tax collections were hit by the slowdown lockdowns brought, so New Delhi has been reluctant to lower fuel taxes.

Rizwan-ud-din, a 37-year-old who delivers food in the southern Indian city of Chennai, struggles to pay his rent and loan instalments every month as he has been hit by higher fuel prices and fewer food orders. Millions of weekly wage-earners like Rizwan, who make their living ferrying goods or people throughout India, have been hit hard by record-high fuel prices which are among the highest in Asia, having risen by a third in the 15 months since the coronavirus first struck the country. The average cost of a litre of petrol in Mumbai has risen above 100 rupees ($1.4) this month, 50 to 70 percent more than in Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila.