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Despite petrol and diesel prices touching their highest in three years, the government has said that it has no plans of lowering the excise duty on fuel.
The price of petrol in Mumbai rose to Rs 79.48 per litre last Tuesday, the highest in the last three years. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 70.38 per litre. Similarly, in Kolkata and Chennai, diesel is priced Rs 61.37 and Rs 61.84 per litre, respectively. The increase has been of Rs 5.75 per litre in Kolkata and Rs 5.71 litre in Chennai since 1 July.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday said that petroleum products should be brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), reported ANI.
Earlier on Thursday, the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas shared “price facts” on both petrol and diesel — a comparison of the hike in fuel price in international market versus domestic market.
Pradhan blamed the hurricanes in the US for the price rise, saying:
The minister further said that for a robust economy, the pricing freedom should remain with the oil companies.
Although the international price of crude oil halved over the last three years, the prices of petrol and diesel increased with a series tax hikes.
According to a Hindu Business Line report, the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel has enabled the Centre to raise approximately Rs 1 lakh crore as central excise duties.
Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded withdrawal of central excise duties and other taxes on petrol and diesel, and said it will hold a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Wednesday to press for this demand.
Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said that considering the fall in crude oil prices in the international market, the prices of petrol and diesel should be Rs 34 and Rs 32, respectively.
Commenting on the Congress’ threat, Pradhan said that the party has looted the people when it was in power, whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was using the profits to benefit the consumers.
(With inputs from ANI and IANS)
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