Government's clarification on rising prices of petrol and diesel: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister said 'free vaccine is being compensated by high prices of petrol and diesel'

Union Minister of State (Petroleum and Natural Gas) Rameshwar Teli has blamed the tax for the rising prices of petrol and diesel in the country. He says that oil prices are not high, taxes are included in that. Everyone has got the vaccine for free, where will its money come from, this has been done to compensate.

What did the minister say?

On October 9, Union Minister Rameshwar Teli gave this statement in Assam. He said that "Fuel prices are not high, but it includes tax. You must have taken the free vaccine, where will the money come from? You haven't paid the money, it was collected this way".

Petrol and diesel become 3 times more expensive after tax

The base price of petrol and diesel in the country is currently Rs 41.32. But due to the tax levied by the central and state governments, their prices have crossed Rs 115 in parts of the country. The central government is charging Rs 32.90 excise duty. After this, the state governments levy VAT and cess on it according to their own. Due to this, the price of petrol and diesel has increased by 3 times from the base price. If we talk about the capital Delhi, where the tax is collected on petrol at Rs 60 and diesel around Rs 48.

Central and state governments are filling their treasury by taxing petroleum products

After the Modi government came to power in 2014, the excise duty on petroleum products earned Rs 1.72 lakh in the financial year 2014-15. In 2020-21, this figure reached Rs 4.55 lakh crore. That is, in just 6 years, the income of the Central Government from excise duty increased by two and a half times. At the same time, the income earned by the states from levying VAT on petrol and diesel has increased by 43% in 6 years.

Its earnings were 1.37 lakh crore in the financial year 2014-15, which increased to 2.03 lakh crore in 2020-21. Despite the lockdown imposed due to Corona, the government has filled its treasury by charging heavy taxes on petrol and diesel.

Petrol became costlier by Rs 2.80 and diesel by Rs 3.30 this month

Petrol and diesel have become costlier 10 times in 12 days this month. Due to this, petrol has become costlier by Rs 2.80 and diesel by Rs 3.30. Petrol was Rs 83.97 and diesel Rs 74.12 per liter on January 1 this year. Now it is at Rs 104.44 and Rs 93.17 per liter. That is, in less than 10 months, petrol has become costlier by Rs 19.57 and diesel by Rs 18.06.