Krishak Mukti Chief Akhil Gogoi Blames BJP for Price-rise of Petrol and Essentials in Assam

Guwahati, September 26, 2019:

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) chief Akhil Gogoi on Thursday turned down heavily on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the rising prices of petrol, diesel, and onion along with other commodities.

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Addressing the media, Akhil Gogoi laid down the data of increasing prices of petrol and diesel in the market.

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KMSS chief Akhil said, “At present, the prices of petrol and diesel are Rs. 76.38 and Rs. 70.21 respectively. But if we go back to 2011, the price of crude oil for one barrel in the international market was $111, for which the retailer price of petrol was close to Rs. 80 per litre. On the other hand, in 2019, the price of crude oil for one barrel in the international market slumped to $56.45, of which the retailer cost of petrol now is Rs 76.38.”

“With the passage of time, cost of crude oil in the international market has reduced to half, but the price of petrol in the country is increasing day- by- day,” he added.

Gogoi also added that on July 1, Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Singh Thakur replied to a question raised in the Lok Sabha relating to the price of petrol and diesel. “In his reply, Thakur said that the price of petrol depends on the price set by the dealers. The price of petrol is Rs. 33.94 and on that the Centre charges Excise duty of Rs 7.98 and a Value Added Tax (VAT) of Rs.14.98 is charged. However, the dealers charge a benefit of Rs. 3.94, summing a total dealer price of Rs. 37.88. The government charges a total tax of Rs. 32.94 in 1L of petrol which is equal to 46 percent. As a result of which, the price of petrol increased to Rs. 70.44 as on July 1,” he added.

“On the other hand, on July 15, 2019, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the Central Government earned a total tax of Rs. 1,72,065 crore from petrol and diesel taxes,” Akhil Gogoi informed.

Similarly, in the year 2018-2019, the states earned a sum of Rs. 2.30 lakh crore and also the Centre and state together earned a sum of Rs. 5.95 lakh crore from the petrol and diesel taxes, he added, as per the information was given by Dharmendra Pradhan.

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“Moreover, the oil companies are also earning a huge profit from the oil business. IOCL earned a profit of Rs. 16,000 crore, HPCL earned a profit of Rs. 6,029 crore and BPCL earned a profit of Rs. 7,132 crore in the year 2018-19,” Gogoi added.

Laying down the figures, Akhil questioned as to where exactly these tax profits had been utilized. “The price of crude oil has been decreasing but the Indian Government is not working to decrease the price of petrol and diesel,” alleged Gogoi.

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