Rahul Gandhi slams Centre for fuel price rise as petrol soars to Rs 90.99/lt in Delhi

As fuel prices rise once again across India, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, taunted the Centre over rising fuel prices tweeting 'Polls over, Loot starts'. As per today's pricing, Petrol costs Rs 90.99 per litre and diesel Rs 81.42 per litre in Delhi. In other states, Petrol & diesel prices per litre are - Rs 97.34 & Rs 88.49 in Mumbai, Rs 92.90 & Rs 86.35 in Chennai and Rs 91.14 & Rs 84.26 in Kolkata

Rahul Gandhi: "Polls over, loot starts"

After an 18-day hiatus, the petrol price on Tuesday was increased by 15 paise per litre and diesel by 18 paise as state-owned fuel retailers started passing on the increase in international oil prices to consumers. Petrol now costs Rs 90.55 per litre in Delhi, up from Rs 90.40, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. A litre of diesel comes for Rs 80.91, as against Rs 80.73 previously.

Oil companies, which have in recent months resorted to an unexplained freeze in rate revision, had hit a pause button after cutting prices marginally on April 15. This coincided with electioneering hitting peak to elect new governments in five states including West Bengal. No sooner had voting ended, oil companies indicated an impending increase in retail prices in view of firming trends in international oil markets. Despite the concerns about rising COVID-19 cases in India denting demand, crude oil prices in the international market have risen primarily on account of strong US demand recovery and a weak dollar.

While campaigning in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the middle-class would not have been burdened if the previous governments had focussed energy import dependence of the country. PM also informed that India imported over 85% of its oil needs in the 2019-20 financial year and nearly 53% of its gas requirement. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had told Parliament that the government is not considering a reduction in excise duty to cool rates from their record highs.  Central and state taxes make up for over 61 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol and about 56 per cent of diesel.