To curb the inflation (and save face), any ruling party would not want to do a Rs.4.xx (Petrol) & Rs.100 (LPG) hike in one shot.

One other thing – if there’s a little balance -> like, the govt. reduces the income tax rates for tax-payers (in the forthcoming budget) and at the same time hikes the prices of fossil fuel — probably the govt. could “earn” much more than the tax earnings. Think about it, tax-payers as well as non-tax-payers need fossil fuel (directly or indirectly). Why not tax everybody through these essential items, as unlike income tax which a majority of Indians don’t pay?!

And probably, after it would be expensive, more people would switch to the economical public transport.

http://business.rediff.com/interview/2010/feb/16/inter-interview-with-kirit-parikh-on-petro-pricing.htm

@Rajan: True about the deregulation, however — with the Congress Raj — its really unlikely that we can ever do without quotas, without these “pro-poor” subsidies, farmer loan waivers, and such. So – we can only hope.

Once the oil prices get deregulated and the government removes the existing subsidies (which will likely happen in the next 6 months)…the gap between petrol and diesel prices will narrow down to insignificance and savings will cease to be a differentiator….which brings us down to just 2 parameters for selection…efficiency and/or fan-following.

I agree with Thiru and Rohan.
1. I travel an hour and 15 mins one side to office.
2. Diesel is cheaper
3. Of course Petrol engine maintenance is cheaper than diesel
4. I typically get 16 Kms/L and is cost effective.
5. I dint see much pickup and responsiveness between petrol and diesel as I use Shell diesel only.
6. I keep the engine idle after start for one minute to get turbo advantage.
7. Diesel emit less harmful gasses compared to petrol (even carbon sooty exhaust is not so dangerous as smooth and good running petrol engine)
8.Modern engines in Diesel is improved a lot so-much-so that even Europeans are adopting it

Regarding my choice of selection – Petrol of small distances and Diesel for long distances and hence i choose Diesel.

I have relatives who are in the travel business for decades and quite humbly prefer petrol cars over diesel ones. They say they cannot bear the extra maintenance, extra sound effects over a period of time that come free for the extra price paid.

That said, we have hardly had good diesel engines in India for a long time. Courtesy Rohan, I have learnt about the wonders that some of the European companies have created out of Diesel engines. So I would rather prefer to wait before deciding.

My uncle in the travel business wud say: Petrol is for vehicles like what Water is for thirst!

Of course, I hadn’t driven any diesel car other than my own for about a year after buying mine. And then I drove A Scorpio 2.6 CRDe, and that’s when I realised how refined Fiat’s multijet engine is, even though both engines come with common rail direct injection systems!!

That was a bit off topic. Coming to the point, I also have heard that diesel engines take a while to get into “performing” mode. That is, if your usual destination is very close to your starting point (most of the times, the distance between your house and your office is very less), you reach your destination even before your engine warms up enough to operate efficiently. In such a case, I guess petrol car is better.

But for spead freeks (I mean speed freaks), diesel engines (especially with common rail injection systems) are better. You can use some after-market gadgets (such as Pete’s) to disrupt the signals sent by the ECU to the injectors, and thus attain a better power output (obviously, these gadgets aren’t designed to give a lesser power output than the factory-set!!).
This option is very limited in petrol engines, if at all available. Perhaps it is only the K&N filters that will help you here.

I am not an expert in petrol engines, so guys, please correct me if I am wrong.

Driving from Bangalore to Mangalore is not an activity you’d do often. (AFAIK) In the city, petrol cars typically give 11-13 km/lt, while diesel cars give 14-16 km/lt. Its true that you would save money with the better mileage, however the maintenance of a diesel car would add up to the costs too.

Thanks!

Even after 5 yrs, I get 22KM/L (without A/C) for drive from Bangalore to Mangalore and back (Those who know, Consider the road conditions). A petrol car of the same make and model will not give more than 14 KM/L (without A/C)
Now for the Math:

With 7692 Liters of Diesel, my car would run 169224 KM
With 7692 Liters of Petrol, a petrol car of same make/model would run 107688 KM.
That is a clear 61536 KM more. Again applying the Bangalore rates of Standard Diesel( Rs. 37.06) we are havind a saving of Rs. 103660.18. That is another lakh.