State Congress chief Nana Patole on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of “robbing the common public” by imposing an exorbitant excise duty on fuel when crude oil prices in the world market were low.
“Furthermore, in the name of ‘road development’, a cess of ₹18 and an agricultural cess of ₹4 per litre on petrol and diesel have been levied on the public,” Mr. Patole said.
He said between 2004 and 2014 when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was in power, a Central road fund cess of just ₹1 per litre was levied on petrol and diesel. He said, “In contrast, when the Modi government came to power, the cess fund was renamed ‘Central Road and Infrastructure Fund’ and it rose from ₹1 to ₹18 per litre.”
He said the domestic market has raised fuel retail prices to three digits for the first time in the country’s history. In Maharashtra, the hike was as high as ₹11 per litre during the BJP’s rule in the State. He also alleged that the Centre was ‘looting’ people through tolls on national highways.
“The Centre must either stop road development cess or stop tolls across the country Also, while it is mandatory to blend 10% ethanol in petrol, private oil companies like Reliance, Essar and Shell have been exempted. It seems that Mr. Modi has arranged for his special business friends to benefit from this, but State-owned oil companies have to follow norms. The Centre is working only for a select few of the Prime Minister’s friends,” he alleged.
Published - February 25, 2021 11:32 pm IST
