In lieu of transferring the benefit of lower crude prices to the people by way of slashing petrol and diesel prices, the Central government reduced the windfall tax on crude oil. Over the act, the IT minister K.T.Rama Rao alleged the BJP-led Centre due to its unkindness towards people’s needs.
In front of the media, KTR said, “The Centre did not cut petrol prices, but it brought down the taxes paid by corporate entities. From this, it is understandable that the corporate firms are the top priority for the Central government.”
KTR said that the government had saved Rs 35,000 crore by importing crude oil from Russia at discounted prices, but only 2 or 3 firms had gained advantages from it. He further said that the Russian crude oil was refined and exported by corporate companies.
Criticizing the Centre and denouncing the states such as Telangana for higher petrol prices, KTR pointed out the cess imposed by the Centre was the reason for the higher fuel prices. He said that the Centre had collected Rs 30 lakh crore in the form of cess. He also said that the Telangana government had not hiked Value Added Tax from 2014. If the Centre scraps cess, the price of petrol can be cut to Rs 70 per litre and diesel to Rs 60 per litre, said KTR.