Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri launched a diatribe against the “hypocrisy” of Opposition-ruled States on Thursday and said petrol would be cheaper if some of them cut taxes on fuel instead of imported liquor.
The Minister’s comments in a series of social media posts came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed Opposition-ruled States for not cutting fuel taxes to benefit consumers.
Mr. Puri listed out several States’ taxation structure for petroleum products and argued that the taxes levied by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled States are the lowest. He also slammed States for levying a high tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), leading to higher airfares.