No relief to people on petroleum prices, "Kumbhakarna sleep" on tariff policy: Kharge slams Modi government

New Delhi [India], April 7 (ANI): Amid the turmoil in stock markets over the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday attacked the Modi government, stating that the benefit of reduced international crude prices has not been passed on to consumers and excise duty has now been hiked on petrol and diesel.
In a post on X, Kharge noted that the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel came on a day small and big Indian investors lost Rs 19 lakh crore in the stock market. He accused the government of "sleeping like Kumbkarn" on the issue of US tariffs.
"Wah Modi ji wah!! Compared to May 2014, the international crude oil price has dropped by 41 per cent, but instead of reducing petrol-diesel prices, your loot government has increased the Central Excise Duty by Rs 2 each," he said.
"The Kumbhakarna-like sleep on tariff policy led to a sudden wipeout of Rs 19 lakh crore for small and big investors in the stock market, which probably didn't give you peace, so your government is rubbing salt on the wound!" he added.
The central government has raised the excise duties on diesel and petrol each by Rs 2 per litre, effective from Tuesday, according to a notification from the Department of Revenue.
Currently, the government charges an excise duty of Rs 19.90 per litre on petrol. From Tuesday, it is going to be increased to Rs 21.90 a litre.
Similarly, the current excise duty on diesel is Rs 15.80 per litre, and it will increase to Rs 17.80 per litre effective Tuesday.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri said the excise duty hike will not be passed on to consumers.
"You would have seen a notification from the Ministry of Finance saying that the excise rates are going up by Rs 2 on petrol and diesel. Let me clarify upfront on the record, this will not be passed on to the consumer...The international price of crude came down to around USD 60 a barrel, but please remember that our oil marketing companies carry inventories over a 45-day period. If you go back to January, the crude price then was USD 83, which came down subsequently to USD 75," he said.
"So the crude inventory that they're carrying is at USD 75 on average per barrel...You can legitimately expect prices of petrol and diesel to be moderated by the oil marketing companies in keeping with the global price. In a deregulated sector, you can expect them to accordingly adjust the market retail price," he added. (ANI)