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'Big reason for fuel price hike': Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan blames Congress

"There has been a jump in crude oil prices in the international market," he said
'Big reason for fuel price hike': Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan blames Congress
'Big reason for fuel price hike': Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan blames Congress

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R Speaking to news agency ANI, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan laid out reasons for the recent hikes in prices of petrol and diesel, and highlighted Congress responsibility for the same. "There has been a jump in crude oil prices in the international market. One of the main reasons behind the rise in fuel prices in India is that we have to import 80 per cent of the oil we consume," he said.

"Economists have raised a point that Congress had left oil bonds worth crores for repayment, due to which we have to now pay both its interest and its principal price, this is also a big reason for the rise in fuel prices," he said.

The fuel prices are now a point of big political debate. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been taking swipes at the Centre, saying the petrol and diesel rates will come down at the time of the next elections in the country. He also shared a graph with the caption "GOI's Vikaas of Fuel Prices" on Twitter, which showed that the prices of petrol and diesel have been rising since September last year, only plateauing or dipping during state polls.

"When will the prices of petrol and diesel come down? When the next elections happen," the former Congress chief said in a tweet in Hindi. His attack on the government came as the diesel price crossed the Rs 100-per-litre mark in Odisha after the fuel rates were hiked again. The price of petrol was hiked by 28 paise per litre and that of diesel by 26 paise per litre, according to a price notification of the state-owned fuel retailers. In Delhi, the petrol price has hit an all-time high of Rs 97.5 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 88.23 per litre. The fuel prices differ from state to state, depending on the incidence of local taxes such as Value-Added Tax (VAT) and freight charges.

For this reason, first the price of petrol and now that of diesel has crossed Rs 100 per litre at several places. The Congress has been critical of the government for the rising petrol and diesel prices. The opposition party has also been demanding that petrol and diesel be brought under the purview of the GST regime.

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