Telangana Minister and TRS working president K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday said the policies of BJP government at the Centre were behind the rising fuel prices in the country and it was not correct to blame the States for the same.
“On the one hand the BJP government at the Centre is constantly raising prices... on the other trying to push the blame on State governments. This is blatant lying and totally unacceptable,” he said in an open letter.
Noting that he was writing the letter to turn the spotlight on the Centre’s policies that were behind the soaring fuel prices, Mr.Rao, who is Minister for Industries, IT and Municipal Administration, contended that the reasons cited by the Modi government for not controlling prices were lies.
“BJP leaders are simply narrating stories, such as the problems in the international crude oil supply, the rise in crude oil prices and the Russia-Ukraine war. But all this is not true,” he said. The rising fuel prices were due to the “inefficient policies adopted by the BJP and its failure in managing the country's economy... the BJP leaders at the Centre are lacking wealth-creating intellect. They are of the wrong impression that raising taxes exponentially with the power at hand is good governance,” Mr. Rao said.
He said only the Basic excise duty, which relatively is a small component of the levy, is shared with the States by the Centre. At current price, the basic excise duty on petrol is only Rs.1.40 a litre. Of this, 41% or 57 paise, per litre, is distributed by the Centre to States. The share of Telangana is 2.133%. That is 0.01 paise per litre. The Centre, which is levying an excise duty of Rs 28 per litre, however, says it is giving a major share to the States. Also, the State get no share in the cess levied on petrol and diesel.
