Congress slams govt over excise duty hike on petrol, diesel

The Congress on Saturday hit out at the government over the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel, demanding that the benefit of reduced international crude oil prices should be passed on to the people.

Congress’ senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said the government should reduce the rates of petrol, diesel and LPG by at least 35-40 per cent.

He said the Congress will strongly raise the issue both inside and outside Parliament to democratically pressure the government to pass on the benefit of low international crude oil prices to the people.

The government on Saturday hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel by a steep ₹3 per litre each to garner about ₹39,000 crore additional revenue. In 2014-15 too, the Centre had not passed on to the public the gains arising from the slump in international oil prices.