After the government raised the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 a litre, which would increase their retail prices by Rs 3-4 a litre, depending on the tax structure in different states, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi here on Sunday said the government should have passed on the benefit of falling crude oil rates to consumers instead of filling its coffers.
“Just 3 days ago I had requested @PMOIndia to pass on the benefit of the global oil price crash to Indian consumers, by slashing the prices of petrol & diesel. Instead of heeding this advice, our genius has gone and hiked #exciseduty on fuel,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
The Congress has alleged the total incidence of excise duty on petrol has risen to Rs 22.98 a litre and that on diesel to Rs 18.83 a litre. “The tax on petrol was Rs 9.48 a litre and on diesel was Rs 3.56 a litre when the Narendra Modi government took office in 2014,” the Congress said.