Mumbai: Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal slammed the Centre on Monday for hiking the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre despite a steep drop in crude oil prices in the international market.
Addressing a press conference here, Sapkal demanded that the prices of petrol and diesel be brought down to Rs 51 and Rs 41 per litre respectively.
The government on Monday hiked the cooking gas price by Rs 50 per cylinder and raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each, but without changing retail prices.
“Stop the loot by imposing the Jizya tax. Bring the petrol price down to Rs 51 and diesel to Rs 41 per litre,” he said.
He said crude oil is priced at USD 65 in the international market, yet the Indian public is being looted through exorbitant taxes.
The Congress leader demanded a white paper detailing the taxes and cess imposed on fuel and questioned why celebrities who tweeted about hikes in fuel prices during the UPA regime were silent now.
He said that despite the drop in crude oil prices in the global market, Indian citizens are not getting any benefits.
He said while crude oil prices currently stand at around USD 65 per barrel internationally, petrol prices in India hover around Rs 109 and diesel over Rs 93 per litre.
“If the reduced global crude prices and the excessive taxation are addressed, petrol could be priced at Rs 51 and diesel at Rs 41 per litre, bringing much-needed relief to the public,” Sapkal demanded.
He pointed out that even under Dr Manmohan Singh’s UPA government when crude oil prices had touched USD 145 per barrel, petrol was sold at Rs 70 and diesel at Rs 45 per litre.
He said, “During the UPA regime, the excise duty on petrol was Rs 9.56 and on diesel Rs 3.48. The BJP has hiked this to Rs 32. The excise duty saw another Rs 2 increase.” These questionable practices must come to light, he said, accusing the Centre of exploiting citizens by levying an agriculture cess.
He said even LPG cylinders, once priced between Rs 400-Rs 450, have doubled, with a Rs 50 hike announced today.
“This is nothing short of daylight robbery, and it must be stopped immediately,” Sapkal asserted.
The state Congress criticised public figures for keeping mum on the issue.
“Back when petrol prices increased by Rs 2 under the UPA, celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, and self-proclaimed saints like Baba Ramdev, were vocal. But now that petrol is Rs 109, they are nowhere to be seen. Where are the protesters who used to take to the streets over a Rs 15 hike in LPG prices?” he said.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
