Kapil Sibal slams Centre after Petrol & Diesel excise hike, calls it 'insult to injury'

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed the Centre over the increase in petrol and diesel excise duties amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Taking to Twitter, he called the decision of the excise department as an "insensitive and an Anti-people decision." 

Read: Delhi govt increases VAT on petrol & diesel; prices hiked by ₹1.67 & ₹7.10 respectively

States impose VAT on petrol, diesel

Along with the Centre increasing excise duty on Petrol and Diesel by Rs 10 and Rs 13, several state governments on Tuesday have increased the VAT on fuels claiming massive revenue losses during the coronavirus lockdown in the country which has now been extended to May 17. While Haryana government recently hiked tax by ₹1 per litre on petrol and ₹1.1 per litre on diesel, Tamil Nadu government hiked VAT by ₹3.25 per litre for petrol and that of diesel by ₹2.50 per litre. The Punjab government has also increased the VAT on diesel from 11.80 per cent to 15.15 per cent, while petrol it has gone up from 20.11 per cent to 23.30 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government increased VAT on petrol and diesel resulting in the rise in the price of the two fuels. While the petrol price has increased by ₹1.67 per litre, the price of diesel has increased by ₹7.10 a litre. Before the hike, the petrol prices in Delhi was ₹69.59 per litre while diesel rates were ₹62.29. Now, the petrol prices in Delhi is ₹ 71.3 per litre, while the the diesel price is ₹ 69.4 per litre. 

Read: Kerala: Migrant workers stage protests in Kozhikode, demand to be sent back home

India extends lockdown

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday issued a notification extending the nationwide lockdown by two weeks from May 4. The notification states the considerable relaxations in districts falling in green and orange zones allowed by MHA, will continue to remain in place. The Union Health Ministry has divided all districts across the nation as red (classified based on total active cases, doubling rate, the extent of testing and surveillance), orange (those neither in green or red zones), and green zones (Zero cases for past 21 days).

Read: Kapil Sibal ignores Railways' clarification on migrants' train travel; says 'Shame on you'

Read: Punjab government increases VAT on petrol, diesel; rate to go up by Rs 2 per litre