‘Mineral water is costlier than oil; petrol taxes fund Centre’s ‘free’ Covid-19 vaccines,’ says Petroleum Minister amid fuel price hike

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KEY STORY

  • At a time when fuel prices are shooting through the roof, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas on Monday made an unusual comparison between water and oil, saying that mineral water is costlier than fuel in India.
  • While making the comparison, Rameswar Teli said taxes on petroleum products fund the central government’s ‘free Covid-19 vaccines’, hence the rise in fuel prices.
  • The minister said that it is not the price of petrol that’s high, but the taxes imposed that spike the rate.
  • “The price of petrol is not high, there is tax involved in it. The price of (packaged mineral) water is higher than that of fuel. The price of petrol is Rs 40, the Assam government imposes Rs 28 VAT, the Petroleum Ministry imposes Rs 30, it becomes Rs 98. But if you drink Himalaya water, then the cost of a bottle is Rs.100. The cost of water is more, not of oil,” he said, according to news agency ANI.
  • Teli said that the funds for the Centre’s free vaccines come from taxes collected by the central government on fuel.
  • “Fuel prices aren’t high but include the tax levied. You must’ve taken a free vaccine, where will the money come from? You haven’t paid the money, this is how it was collected,” the Union Minister revealed.
  • Fuel prices steadily spiked for the seventh day in a row on Monday. Prices of petrol and diesel rose by Rs 0.30 (Rs 104.44/litre) and Rs 0.35 (Rs 93.17/litre) respectively in Delhi. In Mumbai, petrol was priced at Rs 110.41/litre (up by Rs 0.29) and diesel reached Rs 101.03/litre (up by Rs 0.37).

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