NEW DELHI, Feb 3: The BJP government at the centre has blamed the policies adopted by the previous Congress government for the high fuel cost at present. Amidst protests by the Opposition, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, said the petrol and diesel prices were deregulated by the Congress government and oil bonds floated by it resulted in “huge repayments made by the present government last year.”
Puri claimed that between 1979-86, fuel prices rose by 126%, from 2000 to 2007 prices went up 60%, while in the last seven years prices have gone up by only 30%.” He further added, “Prices are determined by international price. During the lockdown, prices went down, but when economic activity picked up, the prices also rose.”
Talking about the international production cost, he said, “The amount of crude available in the market is less than the demand thus the price is high. Crude oil price is decided by exchange rate, freight rate and dealer price. Government reduced the prices by Rs. 5 and 10 recently.”
Dayanidhi Maran, DMK leader asked, whether the government has decreased the fuel prices with the U.P. election in mind. Puri replied that the State governments should reduce vats to reduce the fuel prices. “We are increasing ethanol blending. Petrol and diesel prices were deregulated by the Congress government. They floated oil bonds, which have resulted in huge repayments we made last year,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
