The reality of Petrol prices and detractions of CMO Maharashtra

There are two kinds of lies: calumny and detraction. Calumny is a lie about somebody. This is the kind which stupid people use. Crooks use the other method, which is detraction. Detraction is not entirely a lie but half truth.

 

 

The fuel prices in India have been sky high for over a year now. High fuel prices not just cost the consumer for his fuel cost but it increases the transportation cost for all the other goods and services. This results in inflation. Last year, Many states in India like UP, Karnataka, Gujarat, Assam, etc. slashed oil prices substantially. While in some states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, etc. fuel prices remain the same. On Wednesday, PM Modi pointed out the same thing and urged the rest of the states to lower tier taxes on fuel, during his meeting with the CMs.

 

 

As expected, many opposition ruled states which are mostly the ones with higher taxes on oil have criticized the PM. Maharashtra, the state where people are paying more than ₹120/liter for petrol is the one leading this attack on the PM. The CMO Maharashtra has openly criticized the PM for his request of lowering taxes of fuel. In this regard the CMO has presented a series of detraction to tell a lie.

 

 

 

The fuel prices across BJP ruled states are as follows, Lucknow-105, Bangalore-112, Ahmedabad-105, Guwahati-105. While Opposition ruled states have prices as follows: Mumbai-120, Jaipur-118, Hyderabad-119, Kolkata-115. In such a scenario, CMO Maharashtra claims that the Central Government is taxing more on fuel than the state governments.

 

 

 

The Maharashtra Government charges 24% VAT + ₹3/liter additional tax. Rajasthan 26%, Telangana 27%. While Uttar Pradesh Government Charges 17.48%, Assam ₹17.45/liter, Gujarat ₹16.56/liter.

 

 

 

This clearly shows that the Maharashtra Government along with other non-BJP ruled states in India charge much higher for petrol than that of BJP ruled states. While the CMO claims that the Central Government taxes more than the state government. Now that's exactly what a detraction is, because although it is true that the Central government charges almost ₹33/liter, it doesn't tell the whole picture. Which is, as the PM Modi rightly pointed out in his meeting with the CMs that 42% of the center’s revenue goes back to the states. Which means on an avg almost ₹14/liter goes back to the states itself. Which means the Central government at the end of the day gets only ₹17/liter and all the rest goes back to the states.

  

 

 

Another allegation that CMO Maharashtra has made is that the Central government has not given back the GST dues to the state of Maharashtra. They claim the figure is ₹26,500 crore. Now again, although the figure is debatable, it is true that the Central government is yet to pay the GST dues of states. The part it doesn’t tell, deliberately so, is that the government is supposed to give those due by July 2022 anyway, not April or May 2022. The LoP Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis attacked CM Thackrey for this allegation and gave detailed figures of GST returns to Maharashtra right from the financial year 2017-28 to 2021-22. In that it is clear that the Central government has cleared all its dues of all the financial years prior as well as for the financial year 2021-22 the center has given ₹13782 already and is yet to give ₹13,627, for which again, the deadline to clear those dues is July 2022.

 

 

 

This is a classic case of a non-BJP state trying to blame the Modi government for petrol prices while the data clearly shows that the BJP states charge much less taxes on fuel and hence the cost of petrol is significantly lower in BJP ruled states. As the PM rightly said in his speech, the Karnataka government could have earned ₹5 thousand crore more revenue, had they not reduced the VAT on Petrol. But the government did to give some relief to the common man. While the Maharashtra government did not. Which is why in Mumbai petrol costs ₹120/liter and nearby Diu and Daman union territory charges only ₹102/liter. That is the difference that a resident of Mumbai is paying compared to a resident of Daman and Diu. On top of all this daylight robbery of the consumer, the Government of Maharashtra is not just trying to pass the buck but actually blaming the center for the higher prices of petrol. But the detraction failed to do its job.