BRS leader K T Rama Rao hits out at Centre over cut in windfall tax on crude

Hyderabad: Ruling BRS leader and Telangana Industries Minister K T Rama Rao on Friday attacked the NDA government at the Centre over the reduction in windfall profit tax levied on domestically produced crude oil and others, alleging that it is favouring corporates at the expense of the common man.

“The Central government did not reduce prices of petrol, but it brought down the taxes paid by corporate companies. This clearly shows that the corporate companies are the top priority of the Central government,” Rama Rao, son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, said in a release.

He claimed that Rs 35,000 crore was saved by importing crude oil from Russia at discounted price and that only two or three companies benefited from it.

Rama Rao said corporate companies refined the crude oil bought from Russia and exported to other countries.
He sought to know “why the Central government issued permission to export the crude oil bought from Russia, and not used within the country.”

“Ordinary Indian citizens did not benefit from it. Who is pocketing profits of the company?” he said.

Finding fault with the BJP blaming States like Telangana for high petrol prices, Rama Rao claimed that the cess imposed by the Centre is the reason for the hike.

He further claimed that Rs 30 lakh crore was collected in the form of cess. He also said Value Added Tax (VAT) was not increased in Telangana since 2014.

He also said the price of petrol can be reduced to Rs 70 per litre and diesel to Rs 60 per litre if the Centre scraps the cess.

The Centre has slashed the windfall profit tax levied on domestically-produced crude oil as well as on export of diesel and ATF following a decline in global oil prices, according to an official order.