‘Show big heart and reduce fuel prices’: Ajit Pawar tells Centre
The Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader also said that the central government is earning ₹3.5 to 4 lakh crore with the fuel tax.
Amid rising fuel prices, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday appealed to the central government that they should show a “big heart” and cut down the prices of petrol and diesel.
Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra and is also the guardian minister in Pune, highlighted that the MVA has not increased the state taxes on diesel and petrol since coming into power in November 2019.
Referring to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis’ statement that the MVA government levies “tax on tax”, which has caused petrol retaining at nearly ₹105 per litre in Maharashtra, Pawar said it was a complete lie.
“We did not increase any taxes in consecutive budgets. Whatever taxes are there, they were imposed during their (BJP’s) tenure. The central government is earning around ₹3.5 to 4 lakh crore with the fuel tax. They should show a big heart and reduce the taxes,” the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said.
Notably, petrol and diesel prices witnessed yet another hike on Saturday – seventh in July till date, thereby surpassing the ₹100 per litre-mark in 18 states and Union territories (UTs).
In Mumbai, petrol is priced at ₹106.93 per litre, while diesel costs ₹97.46 per litre. In Delhi, one litre of petrol costs ₹100.91 per litre, while an equal quantity of diesel is priced at ₹89.88. In the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, petrol is priced at ₹104.29 and ₹101.67 per litre, respectively. Diesel, on the other hand, costs ₹95.26 per litre in Bengaluru and ₹94.39 per litre in Chennai.
Petrol prices in the national capital and Kolkata crossed the ₹100-mark on Wednesday. As of now, petrol prices are over ₹100 per litre in several major states and UTs, including Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, and Rajasthan, among others.
