Hyderabad: In the on-going feud between the Centre and states regarding the increasing fuel prices, Telangana minister for IT and industries KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Thursday took on union minister of petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri, and said that there was no increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) in Telangana. KTR asked where the increase in fuel prices was coming from.
On Thursday, Puri on Twitter asked where the VAT imposed by the Telangana state has gone. “The curious case of Telangana. Imposes one of the highest VAT on Petrol & diesel – 35.20% on petrol & 27% on diesel. State govt has collected ₹56,020 cr as VAT from 2014 to 2021. Projected to mop up ₹13,315 cr in 2021-22. Adds up to a huge ₹69,334 cr. Where has it gone?” he tweeted.
Not willing to let the Centre get away with it, KTR responded to the minister, saying “Puri Ji, You can’t run with the hares & hunt with the hounds. Price of Barrel of Crude oil back in 2014 & in April 2022 is almost the same $105, but price of Petrol in 2014 was ₹70 & now it is at ₹120. NO increase in VAT in Telangana. So where did the increase come from?”
He said that the price increase is solely because of additional excise duties & cesses imposed by NPA Govt. He demanded to know why the union minister doesn’t advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi to scrap cess so that petrol and diesel can be given at Rs 70 and Rs 60 all over India.
KTR further said, “Isn’t it true that ₹26.5 Lakh Cr as CESS collected by NPA Govt. We don’t get 41% of our rightful share because of the Cess imposed by your govt. In the form of Cess you are looting 11.4% from the state & we are getting only 29.6% for FY23. The least someone learned like you can do is to stop indulging in subterfuge for political purposes.”
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president KTR has been demanding the scrapping of cess from the BJP-led central government. “Is this the cooperative federalism you are talking about Narendra Modi ji? Telangana has not increased VAT on fuel since 2014 and rounded off only once,” he previously stated.
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