BRS working president and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao criticized the BJP government at the Centre for blaming states for rising fuel prices, saying the Centre should scrap petrol and diesel cess to allow states to supply them at Rs.70 and Rs.60 per liter, respectively. He recalled that Telangana had not raised the value added tax (VAT) on fuel since 2014.
During Question Hour in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri stated that, despite rising crude oil prices in the international market over the last two years, retail prices of petrol and diesel in India had only increased marginally.
He went on to blame the non-BJP-ruled six states for not lowering the value added tax (VAT) on fuel, despite the fact that the Centre reduced the excise duty twice between November 2021 and May 2022.
“If the governments of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Jharkhand reduce VAT on fuel, the prices of petrol and diesel will reduce for consumers in these States. People in these States have to pay more because their State governments continue to levy heavy VAT,” he said.
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However, Rama Rao reacted strongly and lashed out at the Centre for blaming the States for current fuel prices. He claimed that the NDA government was solely to blame for the rise in fuel prices.
Dear Puri Ji,
Fuel prices have shot up only because of NPA govt
Name-calling states for not reducing VAT even though we NEVER increased it; is this the co-operative federalism PM Modi Ji talks about?#Telangana hasn't increased VAT on fuel since 2014 & rounded off only once https://t.co/zmecWoKTtB
— KTR (@KTRTRS) December 15, 2022
“Name-calling states for not reducing VAT even though we NEVER increased it; is this the co-operative federalism PM Modi Ji talks about? #Telangana hasn’t increased VAT on fuel since 2014 & rounded off only once,” he tweeted.
Furthermore, the BRS working president reminded that the States were not receiving 41 percent of their rightful share in the Central revenue due to the cess imposed by the NDA government. He stated that the union government had already collected over Rs.30 lakh crore in cess and was not sharing it with the states.
“Please scrap the cess so we can give Petrol at Rs 70, Diesel at Rs 60 & provide relief to all Indians,” he added.
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