Took some steps, ready to take more, says Hardeep Puri on fuel prices  

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told the Rajya Sabha that while the Centre slashed petrol and diesel rates on November 5 last year and took some other steps, 9 states did not follow lead. He further noted that taxation is only one aspect of the entire issue; the government has to provide relief to consumers at the point of consumption as well.

Puri told the upper house, “When we saw that relief needs to be provided to consumers, PM slashed rates on November 5, 2021. We took some steps and ready to take more… 9 states didn’t do it. taxation is only one aspect, we’ve to provide relief to consumers at point of consumption.”

Puri also cited the comparative data on fuel prices from the US, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Sri Lanka and India. The Union Minister also explained, “In all those countries, the price of petrol during this representative period has gone up by 50 per cent, 55 per cent, 58 per cent and 55 per cent. In India, it has gone up only by 5 per cent.”

(More details awaited)