Congress on Sunday took a swipe at the central government over fuel prices, saying that the rates of petrol and diesel are being regulated by election dates and not global rates.
The Grand Old Party also demanded a reduction of โน15 per litre in the prices of petrol and diesel and โน150 per cylinder of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas).
โThe real gross domestic product (GDP) is not increasing while the other GDP (Gas, Diesel and Petrol) is not coming down,โ Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said. โNow petrol and diesel prices are being regulated by election dates and not global rates,โ he added.
โThe government has been the most inconsiderate towards the fuel prices. Since they have a cascading effect across all economic activities, the governmentโs inactions speak of its cluelessness and misguided focus,โ he alleged.
Slamming the government, Vallabh said, โThe prices of crude oil have been consistently on a downward spiral for the last few months and are at a seven-month low. But the prices of petrol and diesel in our country donโt seem to reflect this trend, even after deregulation, which means that the prices of petrol and diesel should change as per global prices.โ
Citing figures, the Congress leader said as per the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC, Government of India), Crude Oil Indian Basket as on September 8, 2022, was $88.00 per bbl.
He said that the government revised the petrol and diesel prices in May 2022. โOn May 21, 2022, the government announced a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel by โน8 and โน6 a litre, respectively, leading to a reduction of petrol rates by โน9.5 per litre and diesel rates by โน7 per litre,โ he said.
The Congress leader pointed out that after assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, the petrol and diesel prices were increased nine times in the 10 days between March 20 and March 31 this year.
Citing the prices of crude oil, Vallabh said in June it was $116.01, in July $105 49, in August $97.4 and in September $88. He said, in the last three months, there has been a decline of 24.14 per cent in the prices of crude oil, but the common man has received no relief from the government, even with retail inflation consistently over the RBIโs upper band of six per cent.
He also cited the figures for liquefied petroleum prices and said that even though the LPG rates ($/metric tons) have dropped significantly over the last few months, the consumers have seen no relief.
He said that Saudi Aramco LPG prices per metric tonne ($/MT) in June this year were $750 and in September 2022 they were $650, a decline of over 13.33 per cent.
โHence, we demand a โน15 per litre reduction immediately on petrol and diesel prices and a reduction of at least โน150 per gas cylinder,โ Vallabh said.
Vallabh said that retail inflation, GDP growth, and a depreciating rupee are some of the examples that paint a concerning picture of how the economy is being managed.
The Congress leader said that the current BJP government is creating new lows with more data points released by its own government. โThe middle and lower-income groups suffer the most due to the callousness and incompetence of the government,โ he said.
Pointing out the retail inflation, he said that it needs immediate government intervention, adding that retail inflation has been above the RBIโs upper band of 6 per cent for the last seven months.
