Hyderabad: Critcising the fuel hike, Telangana information technology minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) questioned Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman over indiscriminate cesses imposed on fuel by the Centre.
KTR in a tweet said, “This consecutive 80 paisa #FuelPriceHike 12th hike in 14 days outdoes any torture & a record of sorts FM @nsitharaman Ji, why hesitate to debate in parliament on crude oil prices, the Cesses that we can do away with to reduce prices?”
The state of Telangana has not enhanced value added tax (VAT) on fuel since January, 2015. KTR said that if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government does away with ‘indiscriminate cesses’ then the fuel prices would be decreased by 30% at the least.
Background of the fuel hike:
Petrol prices in the national capital have risen by Rs 8.40 per litre in the last 14 days. After a hiatus of more than four months, these prices were changed for the first time on March 22. The fuel prices had remained stable since November 2021 when the Centre had slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre, respectively.
The Oil marketing companies (OMC) revise transportation fuel costs based on various factors including the rupee to US dollar exchange rate, crude oil cost, and demand for fuel, among others. At present, India imports nearly 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements. With sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, crude oil prices have witnessed a steep increase.
