Minister KTR lashed out at the BJP-led central government for reducing the windfall tax on crude oil instead of transferring the benefit to the common man by way of lowering the petrol and diesel prices. The Minister accused the Narendra Modi Government of being insensitive to the interests of common citizens while favouring a handful of corporate companies.
“The Central government did not reduce prices of petrol, but it brought down the taxes paid by corporate companies. This clearly shows that the corporate companies are the top priority for the central government,” said KTR.
He said that Rs. 35,000 crore was saved by importing crude oil from Russia at discounted price and that only two to three companies benefited from it. KTR said that corporate companies refined the crude oil bought from Russia and exported to other countries.
He demanded to know why the Central government issued permission to export the crude oil bought from Russia, and not used within the country. “Ordinary Indian citizens did not benefit from it. Who is pocketing profits of the company?” the Minister questioned.
Finding fault with the central government blaming States like Telangana for high petrol prices, KTR pointed out that cess imposed by the Centre is the reason for the hike. The Minister said that Rs. 30 lakh crores was collected in the form of Cess. He also said that Value Added Tax (VAT) was not increased in Telangana since 2014.
KTR said that the price of petrol can be reduced to ₹70 per litre and diesel to ₹60 per litre if the Centre scraps cess.