When BJP assumed power in May 2014, the excise duty on petrol and diesel was only at Rs. 9.20 per liter and Rs. 3.46 per liter respectively, which has been increased by Rs. 18.70 per liter on petrol and Rs. 18.34 per liter on diesel by the BJP government, which is 203 and 531 per cent higher, respectively, than that of the UPA’s time.

Between the period of eight years from the year 2014-15 to the year 2021-22, the central BJP government has collected Rs. 26 lakh crores from the public in eight years by repeatedly increasing taxes on petrol and diesel.

Since the lockdown two years ago, repeated hikes in prices on petrol and diesel and extortion and profiteering from excise duty have crossed all forms of exploitation. On March 22, 2020, on the same day two years ago, the rates of petrol and diesel were Rs. 69.59 and Rs. 62.29 respectively, which have been increased to Rs. 96.21 per liter and Rs. 87.47 per liter respectively.

When Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi assumed power on May 06, 2014, the oil companies of India were getting crude oil at US $108 per barrel, it is still US $108.25 per barrel today. At that time, petrol and diesel were available at Rs. 71.41 and Rs. 55.49 per liter respectively, which is being sold today at Rs. 96.21 and Rs. 87.47 per liter respectively. Petrol and diesel prices are higher by Rs. 24.80 and Rs. 31.98 per liter respectively, despite crude oil prices being the same in US dollars.

The biggest evidence of duping the people of India and looting their hard-earned money can be gauged from the fact that in the last eight years, the prices of crude oil have been much lower than under the UPA regime but the prices of diesel and petrol are much higher than the UPA rates. Most importantly, the average crude oil price in the last eight years is US $60.6 per barrel, which was US $108.46 in the last three years of the UPA government, i.e. from 2011 to 2014.

Today the price of crude oil is US $108.25 per barrel as on March 22, 2022. Kindly note that on May 26, 2014, when Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi took over the reign of power, the price of crude oil was only US$ 108 even on that day. But petrol and diesel are very expensive today.

LPG rates are decided on the basis of Saudi Aramco’s LPG prices, which currently stands at US $769.11 per metric tonne, which is 58,367.75 per metric tonne as per dollar-rupee exchange rate 75.89, i.e. the international price of LPG is Rs. 58.37 per kg. A domestic gas cylinder contains 14.2 kg of gas. If its base price is calculated, it works out to Rs. 828.82 per cylinder. Then on this price, Modi government takes 5 percent GST, bottling fee, agency commission, transportation charges and then increases the companies’ own profit and charges a hefty amount of Rs.949-1100 for each cylinder from the poor people of this country.

The international price of LPG was US $885.2 and 880.5 in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 under the UPA government, but the UPA government used to give it to the public ata highly subsidized rate of only Rs. 399-414 per cylinder.

Official data of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell shows that in 2011-12, the Congress-UPA government gave relief of Rs. 1,42,000 on Petrol-Diesel and LPG to the public which was Rs. 1,64,387 crores in 2012-13 and Rs. 1,47,025 crores in 2013-14, and which this government had brought to 27,301 crores in 2016-17, 28,384 crores in 2017-18, 43,718 crores in 2018-19, 26,482 crores in 2019-20 and to Rs.11,729 crores in 2020-21.

If we look at the under-recovery and excise duty collection of petrol-diesel and LPG by the UPA and BJP governments, then it is clear that the UPA used to buy LPG at expensive international prices and give subsidy to the customers of the country at half the price from today. Similarly, despite levying lower taxes on the public for petrol and diesel, under-recovery i.e. much less than the prices, was collected at international prices of crude oil.