Petrol prices go up; Opposition slams government
Petrol prices were hiked for the second time in a month on Saturday midnight, drawing sharp criticism from the Opposition parties, who pointed that such frequent hike would lead to further inflation in the country.
State-owned oil companies Saturday night raised petrol prices by Rs 2.50-Rs 2.54 per litre.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) raised petrol prices by Rs 2.50 per litre, while Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) hiked rates by Rs 2.54 a litre. Bharat Petroleum has raised price by Rs 2.53 per litre.
State-owned firms also hiked Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by two per cent.
In Delhi, a litre of petrol now costs Rs 58.37. In Kolkata one will have to pay Rs 62.27 for a litre of petrol. In Mumbai the cost of petrol is Rs 62.81 per litre and in Chennai it is Rs 63 per litre.
Meanwhile, Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president as Nitin Gadkari, slamming the petrol price rise, said in Mangalore on Sunday that it wa blow to the common man and pointed that it was likely to increase the prices of various commodities.
?The cost of living has already risen to an alarming level. This is the third time that the price of petroleum products has been raised,? Gadkari said.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, in New Delhi, said: “This hike is totally unjustified. This is nothing but loot of the common man by the government.”
“A product which costs Rs 30 is being sold at Rs 60, which is a 100 per cent taxation. We call for its rollback,” he added.
Javadekar further said, ?Already there is a 100 per cent tax on petrol and in the whole world there is no country which levies tax of such huge amount. Within one month they have increased the petrol prices by 10 percent.?
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) also lambasted the United Progressive Alliance government for “riding roughshod over the interests of the people.”
“This cruel blow makes a mockery of all the assurances of the government to take steps to curb price rise. The people of this country will not take such burdens on them quietly,” it said.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema, in a statement in Chandigarh, said it is surprising to see that instead of taking steps to control the inflation, the Centre has grossly increased the prices of petrol and diesel, which will have an adverse affect on the common man, who is facing price hike in food products.
Large scale corruption prevalent in the Centre and coalition compulsions that prevent the UPA government from taking action against non-performing and corrupt ministers has added more fuel to the fire, he alleged.