Hardeep Puri slams Karnataka govt over fuel price hike

New Delhi [India], June 16 : Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said that the Congress-led Karnataka government has saddled the people of Karnataka with the burden of paying Rs 3 per litre more for petrol and diesel in the state.
https://x.com/HardeepSPuri/status/1802305488924897558
"After not fulfilling the promises of transferring Rs 8500/month to a woman of each family, Congress-led Karnataka government has saddled the people of Karnataka with the burden of paying Rs 3/litre more for petrol and diesel in the state," Hardeep Puri said in a post on X.
"After this decision, people of Karnataka would be forced to pay higher amounts for food items, clothing, medicines and all items of basic necessities as fuel prices directly impact prices of all goods. Such a decision just after elections have been concluded, exposes the hypocrisy of the Congress which talks about mehengai but levies approximately Rs 8litre-Rs 12/litre additional VAT in comparison with BJP ruled states," Puri added.
With this hike, petrol in Karnataka is now Rs 8.21/litre more expensive than both BJP-run governments in UP and Gujarat, the post added.
"The price gap is even more staggering if Karnataka is compared with BJP-governed Arunachal Pradesh where the party has come back to power strongly. The petrol prices in Karnataka are over Rs 12/litre higher than in Arunachal. The price gap for diesel is Rs 8.59/litre between the two states with Arunachal being much less expensive," Puri added.
During the last three years of global energy turmoil, the NDA government led by PM @narendramodiJi deftly diversified India's crude oil purchases to ensure that petrol prices actually decreased by about 14% and diesel prices fell by nearly 11% during November 2021 -May 2024 period, Puri said.
During the same period, US saw petrol prices soar 29%, while neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced severe financial stress due to spike in global crude prices, Puri added.
"Additionally, to maintain availability and affordability of transport fuels, Modi government made substantial and timely cut in excise duty in November 2021 and followed it up with another cut in May 2022. The Central govt reduced petrol and diesel prices by Rs5 per litre and Rs10 per litre, respectively, in November 2021. Following up in May 2022, petrol and diesel prices were further cut by Rs8 per litre and Rs6 per litre, respectively. Again on March 14 this year, the OMCs played a vital role in reducing prices further by Rs 2/litre,' Puri added.
Puri said, "The BJP-run state governments aligned with the pro-people policies and reduced sales tax on transport fuels to further cut rates for the public and rein in inflationary pressures".
"For instance, petrol prices in Congress-ruled Telangana is Rs 12.76/litre higher than in UP. The difference in diesels prices between these two states is also significant at Rs 7.89/litre. Similarly, the petrol prices are Rs 9.29/ litre higher in Trinamool Congress-run West Bengal compared with BJP-run Gujarat," Puri added.
"PM Modi Ji's visionary leadership ensured that while the world was facing fuel price surge due to a war in Europe, India remained the only country during that period where petrol and diesel prices went down," Puri said.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party Leader R Ashoka said that the BJP will mobilise bullock carts and bikes and organise a stir in front of the Vidhana Soudha on Monday to protest against the fuel price hike by the state government.
R Ashoka said, "We are against the increase in petrol and diesel prices by the state Congress government. Tomorrow, we are going to protest at Freedom Park in Bangalore at 11:30 am. This protest will be led by BJP State President BY Vijayendra and myself. We are going to protest against the Congress government across the state. The Congress government has increased the price of petrol and diesel because people did not vote for the Congress party in this Lok Sabha election."
The increase in the price of petrol and diesel comes following an official notification from the Government of Karnataka, which indicates a revision in the sales tax levied on petroleum products.
The price of petrol has surged by Rs 3, bringing the cost per litre in Bengaluru to Rs 102.84, up from the previous rate of Rs 99.84. Similarly, the price of diesel has increased by Rs 3.02, raising the cost per litre from Rs 85.93 to Rs 88.95.
According to the Petroleum Dealers Association, the price has increased because the state government has revised the sales tax in the state, which is levied on petroleum products in the state.
According to the notification, the sales tax on petrol has been increased from 25.92 percent to 29.84 percent, while the tax on diesel has risen from 14.3 percent to 18.4 percent by the state government.